FORT WORTH (Texas) • First, Daniel Berger put on the plaid jacket that has been awarded to each winner at Colonial since the early 1950s.

Then he received a belt buckle, befitting the city of Fort Worth's motto as "Where The West Begins".

Then the big cheque, of course. And finally the Leonard Trophy, the 106cm, 25kg piece of hardware that probably requires a remodel of every recipient's trophy case.

Berger stood on the 18th green at Colonial Country Club on Sunday, the newest champion of the Charles Schwab Challenge thanks to his one-hole play-off win over fellow-American Collin Morikawa. Both ended regulation play at 15-under 265 after rounds of 66 and 67.

He held the trophy high in the air as a handful of photographers snapped his picture. Near the clubhouse, a couple of people clapped.

While the taste of victory is always sweet, this one Sunday definitely had a unique flavour.

"A little different for sure," Berger said of the closed-door tournament, the first of four on the PGA Tour's revised calendar amid the coronavirus pandemic. "But in the end, I was holding the trophy - and that's all that matters to me."

In this most unusual of weeks for the Tour and the return of pro golf in America after a three-month hiatus, Colonial found a winner who somehow managed to stay hot during the suspension.

Berger's last three starts before the pandemic's outset was a tie for ninth at the Jan 30-Feb 2 Phoenix Open, a tie for fifth at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and a tie for fourth at the Feb 27-March 1 Honda Classic.

Scoring-wise, the 27-year-old rolled into town with 24 consecutive rounds under par.

Given that the field was stacked with so many big names, including top-ranked Rory McIlroy, it might have been easy to overlook a guy who is ranked 107th in the world and whose last Tour win came three years ago at the St Jude Classic, before a longstanding wrist injury that developed in 2018.

But Berger found something before the break, and he did not lose it while back home in Jupiter, Florida, during the Tour's shutdown.

EXQUISITE ENDING

There were so many times today where I could have given up or let the pressure get to me. But I hung in there and I played practically some of the best golf I've played the last six years (over) the last five holes today.

DANIEL BERGER, who had two birdies in his final five holes before winning the play-off.

And despite the changed environment, the testing protocols, the social distancing rules and the lack of fans due to safety and health concerns, he never felt really out of sorts this week.

"I thought about the virus very few times this week," he said. "You know, it's been such a big part of our lives for the last two months, and I feel like I just tried to do everything I can to be safe, and that's all you really can do.

"You wash your hands, you don't touch your face, you wear a mask when you can, you social distance, and obviously, we got tested early in the week, so I knew I was healthy before I got here.

"We had the temperature readings before we got on site every single day... I felt completely safe."

His game was completely safe, too and with Sunday's win coming against the deepest field in event history - 16 of the world's top 20 played - it sends a message Berger is healthy now and ready to reclaim some of the territory he had carved out on golf's landscape before his wrist problems.

"There were so many times today where I could have given up or let the pressure get to me," he said.

"But I hung in there and I played practically some of the best golf I've played the last six years (over) the last five holes today."

The Tour will now head to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina for the RBC Heritage event, which starts on Thursday behind closed doors.

REUTERS, PGATOUR.COM