Motivated by Pebble invite snub, Daniel Berger earns Genesis spot via Aon Swing 5

Daniel Berger and Michael Kim may have finished as distant runners-up to Thomas Detry on Sunday at the WM Phoenix Open, but they did earn the right to tee it up next week.

Berger and Kim jumped inside the final Aon Swing 5 for the Genesis Invitational, the $20 million signature event that will be held at Torrey Pines’ South Course in La Jolla, California.

For Berger, one of his four career major top-20s came at Torrey Pines, where he was T-7 at the 2021 U.S. Open.

“It was really tough,” Berger said, “so hopefully it’s tough again. I saw a couple weeks ago when we played it, it was very difficult, so excited to go back.”

It will also mark Berger’s first signature event after he missed significant time in recent years with a back injury.

“I asked for a sponsor exemption into Pebble Beach, where the last time I played it I won, and two years in a row I didn’t get that exemption,” Berger said, “so it kind of was a little chip on my shoulder to get it done without needing anyone’s help.”

Kim, who will make his signature debut as well, attended Torrey Pines High School, though his best finish at Torrey is a T-23 at the 2018 Farmers.

Here are the five players who punched their Genesis tickets via the Swing 5:

Sam Stevens
Daniel Berger
Michael Kim
J.J. Spaun
Andrew Novak

Justin Lower and Lee Hodges fell out after qualifying for last week AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am via the Swing 5.

Jordan Spieth was a shot away from cracking the Swing 5 and bumping out Novak, though Spieth will still play Genesis on a sponsor invite.

The Next 10 is still pulling from last fall’s final FedExCup standings, though for the Arnold Palmer Invitational next month it will switch to the top 10 players in this year’s FedExCup who are not already eligible.

Though the Genesis, Mexico Open and Cognizant Classic are still to be played, that Next 10 would currently be:

Harris English
Sam Stevens
Lucas Glover
Jhonattan Vegas
Justin Rose
Nico Echavarria
Andrew Novak
Daniel Berger
Harry Hall
Mav McNealy