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BY DOUG FERGUSON

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Daniel Berger dreamed of moments like this, a putt on the final hole with everything riding on it, and he pulled it off to perfection Sunday at Colonial.

What he never imagined is how quiet it would be.

No cheers when his 10-foot birdie on the final hole gave him a share of the lead. No groans when Collin Morikawa missed a 6-foot birdie putt for the win. And more silence on the first playoff hole that Berger won with a par.

“It was a little different for sure, but in the end, I was holding the trophy,” Berger said. “And that’s all that matters to me.”

The PGA Tour made a healthy and muted return from the COVID-19 pandemic at the Charles Schwab Challenge, except for Morikawa and Xander Schauffele having reason to feel sick to their stomachs.

One hole after a chance to win in regulation, Morikawa hit a superb pitch on the 17th hole in the playoff to 3 feet. Berger converted his simple up-and-down for par from behind the green, and Morikawa’s short par putt to extend the playoff hit the right side of the cup and spun out.

“Just hit a better putt,” Morikawa said. “My mind can’t go much else than other what just happened on that hole.”

Schauffele, whose moxie is easy to miss behind his California cool, made three straight clutch putts — for par, bogey and birdie — that kept him tied for the lead only to learn a new meaning of “Horrible Horseshoe” at Colonial.

His 3-foot par putt on the 17th in regulation dipped in the hole on the right side and came out on the left.

His 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th to force a playoff was right on line and came up short.

“If there are fans and everything with the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs,’ I’d probably be a little more (ticked) off,” Schauffele said. “Maybe that’s a good thing for me right now. But it was definitely weird. It was sort of an internal battle, which it always is for me, but more so internal this week just with no fans.”

Berger, whose birdie on the 18th gave him a 4-under 66, won for the third time on the PGA Tour, all three titles coming on this week in the calendar. The other two in 2016 and 2017 were at the St. Jude Classic when it preceded the U.S. Open.

This felt different because Colonial was devoid of fans — just like the next four weeks will be on the PGA Tour — and because of the routine he followed. Berger went from the golf course to his rented house, his uncle serving as the chef. He had a saliva test in Florida and a nasal test when he arrived for the new coronavirus, both negative.

He was excited when he arrived — Berger has shot par or better every round since Oct. 11 — because golf was back to business. And he was thrilled when he left, a winner again after missing nearly five months at the end of 2018 because of a wrist injury.

The victory moved him from outside the top 100 to No. 31 in the world.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, on the first tee when golf returned Thursday, was back in Florida watching a final round unfold with eight players taking turns at the top, and a half-dozen still in the mix over the final hour.

The scorecard this week included 487 tests for COVID-19 at Colonial, all returned negative. The leaders brought star power, Colonial brought heritage, and it was the first live PGA Tour event since March 12 because of the pandemic.

“This has been a phenomenal start to our return,” Monahan said.

It almost was a tremendous return for Morikawa, who is so steady that he already has won and has made every cut as a pro dating to his graduation from Cal a year ago. No newcomer has had a streak that long since Tiger Woods.

Morikawa took a share of the lead with a 50-foot putt on the 14th hole. It was the short ones that hurt.

“We gave ourselves our chance, and that’s what you want at the end,” Morikawa said. “Yeah, it’s going to sting for a little bit but we’ll make it out and we’ll go on to next week.”

Bryson DeChambeau (66), Justin Rose (66) and Jason Kokrak (64) all had birdie chances on the 18th. Berger was the only one who delivered, and this time the playoff worked out in his favor.

Jordan Spieth, trying to end three years without a victory, left with a consolation prize of progress. He missed a 2-foot par putt on the sixth hole — part of three bogeys in a four-hole stretch — but was still in the mix until a tee shot out of bounds on the 14th.

Even then, he made a 35-foot putt to save bogey. He wound up with a 71 and tied for 10th.

Rory McIlroy had seven straight tournaments no worse than fifth, a streak that came to a stunning halt. Starting the final round three shots behind, he was 5 over through seven holes and closed with a 74 to tie for 32nd.

Monahan conceded his biggest concern going into the week, even with its testing and safety procedure, was positive tests popping up. “That’s something, candidly, that I lost a lot of sleep over in the weeks that preceded coming in,” he said.

Next up is the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head on the South Carolina coast, and Monahan said the first week won’t be complete until then to see how players handled the interstate travel.

Those on the charter were tested after the third round. Everyone else would be tested when they arrived at Hilton Head.

“This is about a sustained return,” Monahan said. “But I think as we sit here late in the day Sunday, there’s no question that this has been an exceptional week.”

Sunday
Colonial Country Club
Fort Worth, Texas
Purse: $7.5 million
Yardage: 7209; Par 70
Final Round
x-Daniel Berger won on first playoff hole

x-Daniel Berger (500), $1,350,000 65-67-67-66_265

Collin Morikawa (300), $817,500 64-67-67-67_265

Bryson DeChambeau (134), $366,094 65-65-70-66_266

Jason Kokrak (134), $366,094 67-70-65-64_266

Justin Rose (134), $366,094 63-69-68-66_266

Xander Schauffele (134), $366,094 65-66-66-69_266

Patrick Reed (88), $243,750 68-69-63-67_267

Bubba Watson (88), $243,750 68-66-68-65_267

Gary Woodland (80), $219,375 65-67-66-70_268

Sungjae Im (68), $181,875 66-69-67-67_269

J.T. Poston (68), $181,875 68-66-67-68_269

Jordan Spieth (68), $181,875 65-65-68-71_269

Justin Thomas (68), $181,875 64-68-66-71_269

Abraham Ancer (53), $129,375 64-70-66-70_270

Cameron Champ (53), $129,375 66-71-65-68_270

Patrick Rodgers (53), $129,375 67-68-70-65_270

Rory Sabbatini (53), $129,375 68-68-69-65_270

Peter Uihlein (53), $129,375 69-65-69-67_270

Corey Conners (44), $95,625 66-67-67-71_271

Joel Dahmen (44), $95,625 68-65-70-68_271

Branden Grace (44), $95,625 66-66-66-73_271

Harold Varner III (44), $95,625 63-66-70-72_271

Rafa Cabrera Bello (35), $65,250 68-67-69-68_272

Tony Finau (35), $65,250 68-69-67-68_272

Lucas Glover (35), $65,250 67-70-69-66_272

Chesson Hadley (35), $65,250 70-68-64-70_272

Brian Harman (35), $65,250 65-69-70-68_272

Viktor Hovland (35), $65,250 70-68-68-66_272

Bud Cauley (28), $51,375 71-67-67-68_273

Kevin Kisner (28), $51,375 67-69-68-69_273

Ian Poulter (28), $51,375 66-70-67-70_273

Keegan Bradley (22), $41,875 69-69-67-69_274

Matthew Fitzpatrick (22), $41,875 68-69-68-69_274

Brooks Koepka (22), $41,875 68-68-69-69_274

Rory McIlroy (22), $41,875 68-63-69-74_274

Maverick McNealy (22), $41,875 69-69-66-70_274

Joaquin Niemann (22), $41,875 72-65-72-65_274

Bronson Burgoon (16), $32,625 68-70-70-67_275

Tyler Duncan (16), $32,625 65-70-70-70_275

Harry Higgs (16), $32,625 70-65-71-69_275

Billy Horschel (16), $32,625 68-68-70-69_275

Matt Jones (16), $32,625 66-70-69-70_275

Talor Gooch (11), $24,425 68-70-69-69_276

Adam Hadwin (11), $24,425 65-71-68-72_276

Mark Hubbard (11), $24,425 67-68-67-74_276

Zach Johnson (11), $24,425 72-66-69-69_276

Adam Schenk (11), $24,425 66-72-72-66_276

Brian Stuard (11), $24,425 68-70-74-64_276

Jim Furyk (8), $18,885 67-69-67-74_277

Charles Howell III (8), $18,885 70-67-66-74_277

Andrew Landry (8), $18,885 68-70-69-70_277

Matthew NeSmith (8), $18,885 70-67-70-70_277

Pat Perez (8), $18,885 69-69-70-69_277

Matthew Wolff (7), $17,775 67-69-71-71_278

Zac Blair (6), $17,475 71-65-75-68_279

Louis Oosthuizen (6), $17,475 69-69-69-72_279

Scottie Scheffler (6), $17,475 68-69-69-73_279

Doc Redman (5), $17,100 67-70-73-70_280

Richy Werenski (5), $17,100 72-66-70-72_280

Byeong Hun An (5), $16,650 67-71-69-74_281

Chris Kirk (5), $16,650 68-70-68-75_281

Alex Noren (5), $16,650 67-71-67-76_281

Jhonattan Vegas (5), $16,650 64-74-73-70_281

Keith Mitchell (4), $16,200 67-71-71-73_282

Scott Piercy (4), $16,200 67-71-73-71_282

Denny McCarthy (4), $15,975 70-68-73-72_283

Jason Dufner (4), $15,825 68-69-70-78_285