Q. Just walk me through that back stretch starting at 15.
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, I hit a great drive on 15 and a great approach shot and made the putt, which kind of gave me a little positive momentum. I felt like there was a small little stretch where I was going backwards for a little bit, and then made a great putt on 16 and birdied 18, which is a tough hole where that pin was today.
Just a good finish to the round.
Q. How does that momentum that you got from the eagle just lead into making 16 maybe an easier hole?
DANIEL BERGER: 16 is still not easy no matter if you make an eagle or whatever score you make on 15. The green is really firm and they put the pin in a tricky little spot. But I got away with a nice putt there, and it's nice to have some fun out there and shoot a good score and look forward to tomorrow.
Q. Shortened that distance between you and Detry. What do you do to regroup tonight and set yourself up for a good round?
DANIEL BERGER: Well, I don't know, I don't think he's won out here on the PGA TOUR; I think it's going to be tough for him tomorrow, so hopefully I'm in that final group and I can put some pressure on him early in the round. But really just keep doing the things that I've been doing and make birdies. That's what I've got to do; I've got to make birdies.
Q. What is feeling right for you this week?
DANIEL BERGER: I feel healthy. I feel happy. I feel like I'm enjoying golf. It's hard to not have fun out here with all these fans. Everyone is having a great time.
In years past, I've played well here, so it's just fun to come back here. This is like my 10th or 11th time playing the tournament.
Q. You mentioned feeling happy and healthy, all those good feelings on the golf course. When was the last time you felt this good?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, it's been a while, but it's nice to not have any worries or any fears in my mind and just go out there and enjoy the round. At the end of the round, you tally up the score and whatever it is, it is. You just put all the work in leading up to it, and then the rest of it is just going out and enjoying it.
Q. Toward the second half of last year you started to put some better results together. Was there something that clicked in that stretch for you that you've carried into this year?
DANIEL BERGER: Well, I had a little bit of experience just getting back into tournament mode after missing 18 months. Really it's just about the reps and doing it enough times.
Q. What was the injury?
DANIEL BERGER: It was a back injury.
Q. You're leading the field in driving accuracy this week. Is there anything in particular you've honed in --
DANIEL BERGER: No, I just do that every week, so it's just kind of the same thing always. Hit fairways, try to hit greens, make birdies.
Q. Why do you think you're better at accuracy at this point in your career?
DANIEL BERGER: Practice. I practice driver more. That's about it. It's a little bit of that, a little bit of just being more free out there and not worrying where you miss it. I think any player will tell you when they're free out there, they play better. That's the way I feel right now.
Q. Do you care about accuracy more at this point in your career?
DANIEL BERGER: Well, I think there's guys that lead that strokes gained category based off of distance. I obviously don't do it off of distance, I do it off of accuracy. But I hit one 350 on 18 so I have distance if I want it, I just choose to try to hit it straighter more often.
Q. Emotionally having gone through the injury, does that make you appreciate a week like this in contention with these crowds a little bit more?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, I think it makes me appreciate just being able to play golf for a living and how lucky we are. There's nothing else I'd rather do, so it's great to be back and great to be playing well.
Q. What were those 18 months like?
DANIEL BERGER: You want the whole story? I'm sure they've written about it plenty of times.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports