ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL

March 6, 2026

Daniel Berger

Bay Hill Club and Lodge

Quick Quotes

Q. How did you hit 'em today, Daniel?

DANIEL BERGER: I was telling Todd, I feel like I hit 'em better today and the score wasn't quite as low. But yeah, it's just one of those courses. It's treacherous. You just got to stay patient and take what the course gives you, and when you have an opportunity, you got to take advantage because there's not that many of 'em out there.

Q. Are you more impressed with the birdie chances you converted or some of the long putts that you didn't put any stress on yourself?

DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, that's a great question. I feel like probably the longer 2-putts. It's so easy to get them running 6, 7, 8, 9 feet by the hole. They are lightning quick, like, borderline, you know, too quick. Like, when you put the putter down, you almost -- there's no friction. The putter just wants to slide. So it's a fantastic challenge. It feels like a U.S. Open.

Q. When you hit it better, but maybe the score doesn't reflect it, is it because even though you hit it better, it wasn't as close or just the putts didn't go in?

DANIEL BERGER: I think the course is just playing different today than it was yesterday. The pins were tough and the greens are firm and the greens are fast, and you can hit a good shot and just because you're 8 feet above the hole doesn't necessarily mean it's a birdie chance. So there was plenty of times where I hit some good shots to 20 feet and was happy walking away with a 4.

Q. Over your last five rounds here, you're a combined 22-under par. Now, nobody has the full secret, but what have you tapped into in the last five rounds?

DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, I mean, the recipe is pretty simple. It's fairways and greens, and if you can do that, it's hard for -- it's hard for guys to catch you. So that's going to be the challenge is to hit a bunch of fairways and a bunch of greens over the next couple days.

Q. How do you play when you have a big lead like this?

DANIEL BERGER: You play like as if you're starting the round at even par and you're not playing other guys. You're playing the golf course and yourself. You're controlling what you can control. And it's not like I've done it a million times, so I can't really tell you exactly how it's going to feel, but I know what I have to do, and so if I do those things, then it will be a good week.

Q. How come you haven't played this tournament that much being a Florida guy?

DANIEL BERGER: I don't know. I actually was wondering that myself. I feel like it was in a weird part of the schedule and I had a couple years where I didn't play that great, so you skip it a couple times. And then you play it and -- I'm not really sure. I can't answer that.

Q. Well, what is the genesis of the Straight Vibin? How did that become your thing?

DANIEL BERGER: Oh, who knows? That's just a stupid thing from back in the day.

Q. How much is the Masters on your mind?

DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, I mean, listen, I want to play in majors. I want to have a chance to win majors. I think I have to play well to get into it, whether it's through World Ranking or winning a golf tournament. Yeah, I mean, it's the top of the list, you know. So a couple more good days and see what happens.

Q. Did you set any kind of a mini goal at the start of the year to get there, and if you did, is that a hard goal to try and do something based on results, which are really hard in this game?

DANIEL BERGER: It is because results are not a controllable, and, you know, there's so many -- Augusta's a very difficult tournament to get into. You can be ranked 55 in the world and you're not playing in the first major of the year. So there will be a lot of players that definitely could win the golf tournament that won't be playing in it. So the first thing you got to do it be able to have a tee time on Thursday, so obviously this is a good week to have that opportunity.

Q. How much do you figure this course changes from these last two days to the weekend?

DANIEL BERGER: The course? I mean, just from one day to the next, you know, from yesterday to today you can already feel the difference. I feel like it's definitely not going to get easier. I heard that Sam, who, Sam Saunders, who has a big part of the tournament, definitely wants it to play difficult. I think Mr. Palmer would want it to play difficult as well. So there's however many guys in the field, they all have the same challenge, so it's fun.

Q. If you were told the day that you won at Pebble five years ago that five years later you wouldn't have another win, what would you have thought?

DANIEL BERGER: I would think that life is, you know, you can't control what happens. You know, you just do your best and things happen and I wouldn't trade what I've gone through over this time for another win or whatever. I think your path is your path, and I'm here today because of what I went through over the last couple years. So I just do my best to be the best golfer that I can be, and whatever happens, happens.

Q. If you felt like writing about any of your shots today, which ones would you like us to write about?

DANIEL BERGER: That's a good question. Probably the bunker shot I hit on 17. It looked pretty basic, but I clipped that thing with so much spin, and it had like 10 feet of roll out. So that was definitely the shot of the day with me.

Q. What was the line on 1?

DANIEL BERGER: On 1?

Q. That 25-footer.

DANIEL BERGER: It was in the first cut, and I hit a nice putt, yeah, just walked it in. Good start to the day.