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FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC

June 10, 2016

Daniel Berger

Memphis, Tennessee

Q. Here with Daniel Berger at 64 to take the 2nd Round lead. Must be more rewarding when you finish a round off like you did today. Huge save on 18.
Can you walk us through it?

DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I mean that hole is really tough no matter what the conditions are. But that wind off the left is not ideal for me wanting to go play a cut. I hit a good tee ball in the bunker and didn't really have much but to make that nice putt on the last kind of gets momentum going into the weekend.

It's big for me.

Q. Talked to you earlier in the week about going to Oakmont. You hit 16 of 18 greens. Another solid ball-striking round. How much confidence does that give you going into next week?
DANIEL BERGER: Gives me a lot. It's going to be a completely different set-up next week than this week. To just know I'm playing well enough to contend is big and just try to conserve as much energy and be fresh for next week.

Q. Solid opening round. You talked about wanting to make more putts. You spent some time on the practice green yesterday. Did you find something for today's round?
DANIEL BERGER: Nothing I didn't know before.

Got to get a little confidence and get the ball in the hole and as you see a few go in then they all start going in and that's how it works.

Excited to make a few today and see what happens in the next few days.

Q. Is there any surprise at all, you know, you cracked your driver and 3-wood last week, to hit the ball like you did today?
DANIEL BERGER: It was a pretty easy adjustment. The TaylorMade guys have been great and they found me a quick replacement and I just got up there and started wacking it and right down the middle.

I think that's all you can ask for when you get a new driver in your hands.

Q. The round of the tournament so far, 64. Ball-striking key for you today?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I mean being in the fairway was huge and made a few nice putts and, overall, just excited to, you know, obviously play bogey-free round and whenever you do that you're happy.

Q. You had three birdies on each side and back to back stretches there, 15, 16, talk about 16 because you missed a green long there.
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I mean I absolutely killed a drive there and had 7-iron in and maybe just got a little too aggressive and, you know, went over the green but short game has been good and got it up there close and played a nice birdie.

Q. When you hit a 7-iron into a par 5 nobody is going to blame you for being aggressive. 17, I think it was 76 feet you had for birdie and you lagged it up to a tap-in.
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. My speed control has been great. The greens feel like I'm just at home and, you know, I love the bermuda and I don't even read grain here. I just look at it and see it and it's just from years and years of putting on it. It's nice to kind of get two grind-out pars on last two holes.

Q. Talk about the last par and your decision-making process in there.
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I mean you're never happy when you're punching out of a bunker and you have another 130 yards left but just got to do what you got to do and hit a nice wedge shot in there and made a nice putt. Kind of get some momentum going into the weekend.

Q. What was working out there, bogey-free round?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I mean everything when you don't have a bogey and shoot 64, but just excited to see what happens this weekend and get ready for next week.

Q. Comfort level with you at all on this course here? You make the turn birdie, birdie, birdie.
DANIEL BERGER: Feels nice especially the greens and rough being bermuda and that's what I grew up playing my entire career so it's pretty easy for me to adjust and, you know, I didn't have much time, played Oakmont Monday, came here Tuesday, Pro-Am Wednesday and just kind of got right into the thick of things and it's nice to get off to a good start.

Q. Just not really a fish out of water for you with all the Top-10s you've had. You've been on a tear recently the last few weeks.
DANIEL BERGER: I've played well the last couple months. Just a testament to how hard I've worked in the off-season and took a little while for it to kind of kick in but I've got a lot of confidence and look forward to this weekend and next week and see what happens.

Q. You played through some pain at Augusta, right, and took some time off and came back for Memorial?
DANIEL BERGER: Obviously I hurt my wrist at Match Play against Phil and it's one of those things that doesn't really get better until you have some time. I just -- I got a great team of guys that help me get through that and as soon as I took some time off it got better.

Q. Mostly just rest and rehab?
DANIEL BERGER: Rest. I needed to not touch a club for about a week and I had two weeks off after Augusta and that pretty much healed it all up.

Q. Talk again about today your birdies. I think you had four, five inside what, ten feet?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I'm hitting the ball well and that's obviously a big key to being in the fairway. If you're in the fairway you can attack some flags. It's not an overly long course. Pretty firm and fast. I hit it in the fairway all day and hit some nice shots in there.

Q. The 3-wood and driver, they cracked last week?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah. I mean you just hit them too much, too long. I was using older clubs and you hit them thousands and thousands of times and essentially the faces cave and it was a little bit, you know, stressful because I've used the same clubs for so long and I don't usually switch to new clubs but the guys at TaylorMade were great and matched me up to an even better driver and I'm hitting it even better than I was before I cracked it.

Q. You're as comfortable with these new clubs?
DANIEL BERGER: It takes a little bit to get some confidence. I've been hitting driver and 3-wood as much as I can this week, obviously, to prepare for next week and because there's going to be a big key to hit the fairways there, too. Yeah, I mean I use this week as a preparation and whatever happens, happens, but that's really my goal.

Q. Have you been to Oakmont?
DANIEL BERGER: I played it on Monday.

Q. What were your thoughts?
DANIEL BERGER: It's the hardest course I've ever played in my life. It's just extremely long and extremely penalizing. The greens are very slopy. You have 10-footers that break four, five feet. Speed control is going to be huge, and fairways.

Q. Do you usually play the week before? Do you feel you needed more starts?
DANIEL BERGER: I took four of the last 11 weeks off so I've had some time off but I like to play the week before a Major. I think it's nice to go in there with a little bit of competitive mojo and I did the same thing at Shell Houston before the Masters and played well there and then I played well at Augusta. I'm playing well this week. Hopefully if all goes well, I'll play well next week.

Q. Hard to think you won't be in one of the final groups with the number you put up. Does your mindset change at all?
DANIEL BERGER: No. The same process over and over and just trying to prepare as well as I can for next week and I think it's a good test with firm, fast greens and just to make as many birdies and if it happens, it happens. If not, it's a great learning experience and it will help me next week.

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