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QUICKEN LOANS NATIONAL

July 29, 2015

Daniel Berger

GAINESVILLE, VIRGINIA

MARK STEVENS: I'd like to welcome Daniel Berger. Daniel, you're currently the top ranked rookie in the FedExCup standings with only five weeks to go before The Playoffs. History says there's been six rookies to ever make the Tour Championship. All have been named Rookie Of The Year. With that, just kind of give us your thoughts as we head down the stretch and maybe a little look back on your season to this point.

DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I'm trying to keep the expectations low. I feel like that's when I play my best golf. So, I'm just trying to enjoy every moment and obviously your rookie year is one you're going to remember. Playing these courses every week, seeing the guys out there, it's a lot of fun.

MARK STEVENS: And then have you had a chance to play the course this week? It's a new course where the Quicken Loans National has moved for this year. If you played the course maybe talk a little bit about it and what you think the keys are this week.

DANIEL BERGER: The course is in unbelievable shape. One of the best courses we've played all year. But I think the biggest key is going to be driving off the tee. The fairways are kind big but the rough is penalizing and you want to be hitting short irons into the greens so going to be pretty aggressive off the tee and hopefully that works best for me.

Q. I presume you grew up inspired by Tiger. Do you have a favorite victory of his that might have -- that you remember most or anything?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I would say the one that comes mind would be the '08 Open where he beat Rocco at Torrey Pines I think it was and just to see him play on such an injured leg and go to battle like he did and come out victorious, it's pretty inspiring and for a young guy like myself I really look at that as motivation for me.

Q. Is there something when you were back then watching that you said part of his game or something you said I would like to be like this, I mean his intensity or anything or maybe just part of his game?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I would say his putting. When you look at Tiger over the years you can think of how many clutch putts he's made in his career and how you think he's out of the tournament and the next thing you know he ends up winning. For me growing up that was always a thing is watching his putting and just seeing how incredibly clutch he was.

Q. I understand you have a background in tennis from your family. Why did you turn to golf and did you get the support from that from your father?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. My dad obviously is a tennis coach and, you know, his job was being on the tennis courts all day and his off time I don't think he wanted to be on the tennis courts so we went golfing and I just kind of -- I had this one summer down in Miami where I kind of fell in love with it. I still play tennis today. I play all the time, couple times a week and it's a lot of fun for me.

Q. You said you try to keep your expectations low. What was your goal at the beginning of this season and how have your goals changed given how well you've played?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, I mean in the beginning of the season I set goals to make it to the Tour Championship and obviously that's something that, you know, I can look forward to with a couple more good weeks of play. But you know, coming close at the Honda Classic, I didn't know if I would have a chance to win -- have a chance to win this year and seeing that my game was good enough to be at the top, you know, the next couple weeks that's something I want to put myself in that position again and see if I can close the deal.

Q. There are three rookies actually in the field this week who have had very good years with you, Tony Finau and Justin Thomas. Do you expect that one of you would win by the end of the year and is this a good week for maybe one of you to break through?
DANIEL BERGER: Absolutely. Justin and Tony are unbelievable golfers. You can expect to see another rookie win before the end of the year. The competition is stiff so you got to have your best game if you want to win.

Q. One of the younger players obviously in the tournament, I was just wondering what it's been like playing along these guys you watched growing up and just what this season has been like for you?
DANIEL BERGER: It's a bit surreal, especially considering that, you know, a year and a half, two years ago I was just in college and I would just be graduating from Florida State right now but I put a lot of hard work to get to where I am and, you know, I've set a plan for my game and luckily it's been pretty easy so far but I doubt that it will be like that for the rest of my career. So, just got to hang in there when it's tough.

Q. I'm writing a story about what happens to one of your teammates, I hope you don't mind, Brooks Koepka. Can you imagine having to travel all over the world like he did and how much do you admire what he did in that regard?
DANIEL BERGER: It's pretty incredible considering, you know, how many different countries he played in over the beginning of his career but Brooks is a tough guy. He was tough on me when I was in college. He was the Captain of the team and I was just a little freshman coming in so he made it rough on me but I think that made me better in getting to where I am right now and he's been really successful at what he does and he's definitely one of the guys that I look up to for some advice.

Q. How was he rough?
DANIEL BERGER: Well, I mean I came into school thinking I was really good and I really wasn't that good and he put me in my place a couple times but it was well deserved.

Q. Kind of a quiet June and July for you. Was that intentional, take a little break? What have you been doing the last two months?
DANIEL BERGER: I played a lot of golf in the beginning of the year. I played 21 of 22 events to start the year. It was -- you know, I needed a break to kind be fresh for The Playoffs because that's kind of obviously the biggest part of the year but I got a boat back home. I've been going on the boat and getting some rest and, you know, I feel really refreshed for this week and ready to go.

Q. What do you do on the boat, fishing?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, fishing and going to the sandbar, getting a little tan. That's about it.

Q. You didn't make the U.S. Open. You did play at St. Andrews. Talk about that experience being at the Old Course.
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I mean obviously Major Championships where I want to be and it was really cool to get the call on Tuesday at Greenbrier that I was going to play and it's just unlike anything I've ever seen. I haven't played any links golf in my career. Luckily I had a caddy that is from England and spent a lot of time Overseas and he helped me out a lot. Unfortunately I didn't play that great. It was definitely a learning experience for me.

Q. What was the highlight of the week for you at the course?
DANIEL BERGER: Highlight of the week probably would have been playing the practice round. We had a big game on Monday with a couple guys and we ended up winning so that was fun.

Q. Can you compare or contrast golf and tennis, tell us anything that one helps the other or areas where there is no comparison?
DANIEL BERGER: I mean I think there's a comparison when -- I've had a chance to grow up with some of the best tennis players in the world and I think the biggest thing that I saw is how hard they work, I mean from sun-up to sundown they're grinding to get better, whether it's the foods they eat or the stuff they do off the course in the gym. I saw that at a young age and my dad ingrained that in me. I think that's been a big part of my success getting to where I've been.

Q. You did grow up in Florida, right? So you're accustomed to the heat and humidity. That can be a factor this week. Do you have any strategies for dealing when it's hot and humid?
DANIEL BERGER: It's actually hotter in Florida than it is right now here. Last two weeks I've spent in 95-degree weather. It actually feels a little bit cool compared to Florida. But I just drink a lot of water and luckily I've grown up in this and feels like normal summer day for me.

Q. Do you think young guys might have an advantage because it's so hot?
DANIEL BERGER: A little bit. I mean you wouldn't want to be 300 pounds walking in 95-degree heat but I mean in the end of the day I don't think it makes that big of a difference.

Q. On the tennis front, was there some player that was hanging around back in the day that kind helped reinforce all that you learned about practicing and everything?
DANIEL BERGER: There it was two, actually. My dad work with the Bryan Brothers who were obviously the No. 1 double teams in the world and I spent a lot of time with them and it's just unbelievable to see how much time and effort they put in to get to where they are and when you look at that, I mean you really, really see how much you have to do to get to where they are and that's been a big key for me to grow as a player.

MARK STEVENS: Okay. Thanks for your time, best of luck this week.

DANIEL BERGER: Thank you
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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