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THE HONDA CLASSIC

February 22, 2018

Daniel Berger

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

DANIEL BERGER: I played really well, and any time you shoot a bogey-free round at PGA National, it's a really, really good round. It's tough conditions out here and I expect it to be some not-so-low scoring for the next couple days. So that's a good start.

Q. I know you know your way around here and you're familiar with the whole area. On 6 you made one heck of a 4?
DANIEL BERGER: I hit a pretty good drive and it just kind of took the wind and bounced in the hazard. You know, it was one of those situations where you've just kind of got to go for it.

At first I had an 8-iron trying to go for the green and when I was standing over it, I realized it wasn't the best decision.

So just laid up to a good number and hit a good wedge shot and good putt and came away with a four which was kind of a momentum-changer to continue my round.

Q. How do you see this course maturing the next couple of days with the greens, the wind, and how tough of a test is it going to be to back this round up?
DANIEL BERGER: It's going to be extremely difficult, especially the way the greens are right now. They are not super firm but they are extremely fast. You really have to ball strike your way around here and that's what I did today.

I think any time you shoot a bogey-free round at PGA National, it's extremely good. I kept it together coming down the back nine and played really well. So I'm excited to get off to a good start. I haven't played that well the last couple years after that playoff, so it's nice to get a good round under my belt.

Q. That last putt, did you think that was going in?
DANIEL BERGER: I did. It looked got whole way. I hit a good drive, good 9-iron and it just crept right at the end. Overall it was a solid round. Birdie on 8 was nice. I'm in good position going into tomorrow.

Q. Is this the best you've played here in quite a while?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, it's probably the second-best round other than the final round Sunday a couple years ago where I shot 65 or 64. I played not that great golf out here ever since then. I'm a different golfer now than I was then, so it's exciting to get a good round under my belt and look forward to tomorrow.

Q. What were the conditions like out there today?
DANIEL BERGER: They were very difficult. The greens are super fast and windy. Conditions made it tough to putt, but if you hit good iron shots, you give yourself opportunities.

Q. Pretty dry out there. How does that affect things?
DANIEL BERGER: It's just going to get firmer and faster as the week goes on. Sunday will be really tough. Just got to stay patient and continue doing the things that I did today to get me into position that I'm in now.

Q. How was the wind affecting putting?
DANIEL BERGER: It's difficult because the greens are so fast, you have to play a lot of break and hit them soft. With the wind it's like an added variable where you have to play a little less break, a little more break and maybe more difficult -- you can hit good putts that don't go in which it frustrating.

Q. How much were you reminded that Tiger was playing behind you?
DANIEL BERGER: The crowds were awesome today. I had a bunch of family out here, a bunch of friends. You can see the Tiger effect when you come out here. There's hundreds -- there's thousands of people. It's great for the game and great for The Honda Classic.

Hopefully he plays well today and tomorrow and shows up on Sunday and it will be really fun to watch. When he's out there, everyone is trying to get to their spot and be in good position to watch him. So they are already a hole or two ahead and they are just running. It is what it is but you just have to take your time and be patient.

Q. Growing up in South Florida, what does it mean for you to be playing here after the Parkland shooting?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, that's horrible. That wasn't that long ago that I was in high school. It's really sad and hopefully we can do something about that. But right now, I'm just really trying to focus on my golf.

Q. What did you think would be a good score when you teed off?
DANIEL BERGER: I thought even par was going to be a good round. There's so many difficult golf shots. There's not really any let-up. Sometimes you get a course where there's two or three holes where you can back off and take a breath but out here every single golf shot has to be so precise or you make a big number.

Thankfully I didn't have to play that much golf last week and wasn't in the greatest position, so I got some rest and I'm ready to go.

Q. What's the easiest hole? There's got to be one.
DANIEL BERGER: The easiest hole, when 18 is downwind, it's really easy but when it's into the wind it's one of the toughest par 5s we play on TOUR.

1 is probably one of the easier holes because it's a 4- or 5-iron off the tee and a mid-wedge, but if you don't hit a good wedge shot you have a tough up-and-down, like Sergio today, hit a good wedge shot and went over the green and he's got a difficult bunker shot. There's not any holes that are super easy.

Q. What did you make on 1?
DANIEL BERGER: I think I made par.

Q. Going back to the Parkland shooting, a lot of schools have had walk-outs. What do you think about seeing high school students take action?
DANIEL BERGER: I think it's great. Everyone has a voice and that's what the United States of America stands for. Hopefully we don't have to see anymore issues like that, but right now I'm just trying to focus on the golf.

Q. You got off to a fast start. Does that help you when someone is playing well like that?
DANIEL BERGER: Absolutely, when you've got a good group you're kind of feeding off each other. We are all hitting good shots, which makes it easy to see what you want to do out there. It's the 20th or 30th time we've played together on TOUR, so it's pretty casual for us and just like playing golf at home.

Q. How difficult do you foresee the next three rounding?
DANIEL BERGER: I think it's going to be very difficult, especially if the wind continues to blow. The greens will get firmer and faster which will just be an added test for us.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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