Daniel Berger pocketed $50K for one shot & a WD at WGC-Bridgestone

Daniel Berger earned $50,500 on Thursday for hitting just one shot, and it had some people upset.

Berger withdrew from the 2016 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday after hitting just one shot, his tee ball off the first hole. For flying into town and doing just that, he earned last-place money in the 61-player field.

However, Berger didn’t do anything unbecoming. He took advantage of the rules.

Berger was one of 76 players to qualify for the event but had a shoulder injury. The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational doesn’t have alternates — you either meet the qualifying criteria or you don’t — and it doesn’t have a cut, meaning a player gets money if they hit even a single shot. Cha-ching.

Berger, who won the FedEx St. Jude Classic the week before the U.S. Open for his first PGA Tour win, was also the beneficiary of the European Tour’s choice not to co-sanction this event in 2016. Instead, the European Tour wanted to clear the stage for the 100th French Open, offering bonus Ryder Cup points. A total of 15 players who qualified for the event didn’t show up at Firestone Country Club, redistributing the money among the field.

Berger also isn’t the only player to pull out of the event on Thursday with an injury. U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III pulled out with a hip injury that will lead to season-ending surgery, while Brooks Koepka withdrew after 13 holes with an ankle injury.