WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 24, 2021

Daniel Berger

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. We talked yesterday kind of beware of the injured golfer. Went out and played and dominated your match. Kind of assess your match if you could, please.

DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, I started off great. I just putted really well on the first nine holes. And it's tough when your opponent is hitting good shots but you're making putts before he is and then forcing him to kind of make a putt right on top of you.

So there's a few situations where he was inside of me and I just hooped it before him, and then it kind of puts the pressure on him. I think historically I haven't played amazing in this event, but it's fun to see the difference when you come two or three years later to see how your game's improved and how much better I've gotten in that time.

Q. I was going to say, when we talked yesterday you seemed to have a lot of confidence in your game even with the injury. Is that kind of the case and how you went out and played today?

DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, I think, like I said, I drove it well and I putted it well, and those are two key areas in order to be tough to beat.

Q. How is the rib injury and how did you do it?

DANIEL BERGER: Honestly, this is the first day in like over two weeks that it's felt pretty close to perfect. So I think it was the right decision to not play last week, although it sucks obviously being my home event. But this is what I was hoping for, to take that five or six days off and come here ready to go feeling good.

So in terms of how I hurt it, I think it's just one of those things where we play a lot of golf and we travel a lot, and you're just going to get things like that that pop up through out the year.

Q. I know it's probably not fair because it looked like an easy match. Was it, or not?

DANIEL BERGER: I didn't think it was an easy match. Honestly today I was a little nervous going to the first tee, which I haven't been in a while. Just I'm not sure if it was the format or what the difference was, but, I mean, anybody can beat anybody out here, so you really have to be focused the entire time.

Even when you're 3- or 4-up, that can turn in a matter of a couple holes. So for me, the whole thought process was just keeping the gas pedal down and giving myself as many looks as possible and trying to make as many birdies as possible.

Q. Does the fact that at least score-wise it was lopsided, is that -- you have to play seven rounds to win this thing, so it's less suspense. So you kind of keep that emotion and energy maybe that is good for you later in the week?

DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, obviously the quicker you can finish a match the more energy you'll have toward the end of the week. But in the years that I've played this I haven't got off to a great start, and that makes it so much harder to get through this group stage.

So tomorrow I'll be focused on I think Brendon Todd, and like I said, there's no easy matches. Everyone is difficult. You have to play great golf to win.

Q. Have you analyzed why you haven't played better in this place?

DANIEL BERGER: I just think I'm a better golfer now than I was two or three years ago, so I'm a better putter, better chipper, I drive the ball better, so overall I'm a better golfer.

Q. I know when you match up against another PGA TOUR veteran player you don't expect to win as easily as you did. Your thoughts on the match today?

DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, I mean, there's no easy matches here but from the get-go I putted well and I always feel like in match play if you can kind of out-putt your opponent you're going to be in good shape. And, I mean, he hit some great shots. I just kind of got in the hole first and kept the pressure on all day.

I was teeing off first a lot and hitting good shots, and that's always harder when you see your opponent getting it in there close. So overall it was a great day.

Q. When you win a hole with bogey, that just shows you what type of day it was for you. As you said, you played really good golf.

DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, I think that was the only hole that I bogeyed all day, so to play -- to make four or five birdies through that stretch of holes and then to -- it was more of a strategic play once he hit it in the water there to kind of lay up and force him to win the hole.

But, yeah it was a good day today. Like I say, every opponent is tough. There's no one that you can really take the gas pedal off.

Q. Thoughts on the course setup? We usually we ask this in four-day tournaments but it's match play; it's you against the other guy. But the way the course was set up today, what did you think?

DANIEL BERGER: I thought it was fantastic. The pins were pretty tough which is not uncommon on a Thursday, and you have to hit good shots to make birdies. That's a good way to set up the course for a match play.