The original plan for Nelly Korda at this week’s Grant Thornton Invitational was for her to play alongside Tony Finau. But Finau withdrew at the 11th hour, leaving Korda to scramble for a new PGA Tour partner.
So she called Daniel Berger, who she referred to as his “savior,” to play with her this week. Berger hails from and continues to reside in South Florida, which made it easy for the 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup team member.
Berger has not played much golf recently, so he arrived in Naples feeling somewhat unprepared. But that did not phase Korda, who offered him the ultimate compliment—albeit hilarious—after their second round on Saturday.
“I’ll definitely star you on my PGA Tour app,” Korda said with a smile.
“He hit so many fairways, really great iron play, and on top of that he rolls it really well. He checks all the boxes. He has a new fan in me.”
Within the PGA Tour app, you can click a little ‘star’ icon next to each player who appears on the leaderboard. Whichever ‘star’ you select appears in your favorites section at the top of the board, making it easier to see your favorite players. Hence Korda making the joke that she did.
“I love his process on the greens; it’s very diligent as well,” Korda said of Berger.
“He’s a very much finesse player. We were kind of talking about it on the first day. I never hit my shots really full, and I like to feel it in, and he does the same thing. So I always appreciate that when a player shows his artistic side.”
Korda produced a historic 2024 season that saw her win seven times, so she knows good golf when she sees it. Unfortunately, Korda and Berger could not make enough birdies to contend this week, as they ultimately finished in solo 13th.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
