Q. Did you catch a look at yourself on the leaderboard?
DANNY WALKER: I did, yeah. On 17 it's kind of hard to avoid. I saw I was in ninth at the time, so I did see that, yeah.
Q. Can you describe the conditions at the start of the round compared to the end of the round and when they started to pick up?
DANNY WALKER: Yeah, definitely early in the round there wasn't too much wind so it was a little more scorable. Probably really started picking up towards the end of the front nine, maybe 7 or 8.
Q. What was the key for you -- after yesterday seeing the way you ended with a couple bogeys, having to watch and wait and see if you were going to make it. What was the key to turning around and coming back with a bogey-free round in pretty windy conditions?
DANNY WALKER: It's always a little stressful when you're right on the cut line, and once you make the weekend it's easy to free it up because you don't have anything to lose. I can't go backwards, you can only move forwards at that point.
I played really well the last 10 holes or so yesterday to finish the round. I was able to just keep that ball-striking momentum going into today.
Q. Has it had a chance to sink in that you've gone from three days ago not knowing if you were going to play here to now being top 10 at THE PLAYERS Championship?
DANNY WALKER: A little bit, but not really. It probably will more over the next few days. Feels pretty good.
Q. Can you sort of talk us through finding out that you were getting in the field, what it meant to you, all that stuff?
DANNY WALKER: Yeah, I've wanted to play this event my whole life, especially like the last several years living in Jacksonville. This feels like my hometown event in a lot of ways.
Especially watching it last year, watching some of my friends play, I just wanted to get in this year so much.
Then actually getting in, it's just an accomplishment of a goal. A big goal.
Q. Where were you when you got a phone call?
DANNY WALKER: I was in the locker room in the restroom. Had to take that phone call.
Q. Someone said you may have cried.
DANNY WALKER: I mean, if one tear counts as crying, then yes, sure.
Q. On that hometown front, when did you move to Jacksonville and talk me through that decision. I know a lot of young golfers are doing it and it makes a lot of sense for them.
DANNY WALKER: Yeah, so I moved here during my first year on Korn Ferry in 2019, probably end of the summer or so. I'd been out of school for almost a year and had been living at home for a little bit and just wanted to find the best place for me to practice and get better, and this seemed like the place to go, especially with everything being free out here, and playing professional golf early on can be expensive.
That was the big draw, just great free practice facilities and a bunch of other pros to play with.
Q. How do you attribute that decision to your ability to make this rise through the ranks?
DANNY WALKER: Yeah, it's definitely a piece of it, for sure. It helps being able to play against guys who are better than you and learn from them and get better, so I've been able to do that here.
Q. Playing with Shane Lowry today, you got thrown into the deep end.
DANNY WALKER: I sure did, yeah.
Q. What was it like, and did it get easier?
DANNY WALKER: Yeah, it was a little surreal. I had never met any of those guys, so it was nice just to meet them and get that out of the way. Like, Okay, now we can go play golf.
But the first hole or so, I was pretty nervous and then was able to find some rhythm after that.
Q. (Indiscernible) return the favor this year?
DANNY WALKER: He did, yeah. He's out here following after I followed him last year.
Q. Was there any interaction with him while you were out there?
DANNY WALKER: I definitely heard him some yesterday for sure, yeah. But it was definitely interesting. I didn't hear the start of the round Thursday, I only heard cheers for the other guys, and then towards the end I started to hear some more for myself, which was kind of cool. I guess people maybe started to figure out who I was a little bit.
Q. It's only supposed to get worse as the day goes on. Where would you guess you might be at day's end?
DANNY WALKER: Gosh, I don't know. Maybe close to where I am now. It's really hard to tell. I don't know how -- it really depends on whether the wind dries the greens out or not. If they stay soft, it's still semi-scorable, but if they start to dry out a little bit, then things can turn the other way.
Q. Based on how the closing holes were playing, if you were teeing off now, what score would you be comfortable with, happy with?
DANNY WALKER: I think anything under par I'd be comfortable with. That would be a solid round.
Q. What did you hit off 18 tee? Was it hybrid?
DANNY WALKER: I hit 3-wood.
Q. Just straight downwind?
DANNY WALKER: Pretty much, yeah. I've never hit 3-wood that far on that hole. Usually I hit driver like 40 yards behind that.
Q. How often do you play out here?
DANNY WALKER: I mean, this is where I play more than anywhere else. I've probably played here 100 times, or close to it.
Q. Is this the most wind you've ever had to deal with on 17 and 18 here?
DANNY WALKER: No, I've had some crazier days out here for sure, but I've never played 17 that downwind. That's a little scary, worrying whether it's even going to hold on that first bounce.
Q. Looked like you just took advantage of the holes that you have to. Did you feel like you had good control of your ball in the wind?
DANNY WALKER: Yeah, I did. It was just a really good ball-striking day where I was hitting it solid. I was hitting my start lines. Yeah, that was the key. Just a good ball-striking day.
Q. What do you do the rest of the day?
DANNY WALKER: Probably take a nap, or try to. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so see if I can make up for that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports