Daniel Berger finished the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with four eagles on the week. The last came on the 72nd hole Sunday and gave Berger a two-stroke win and the $1.4 million first place check.
Berger’s 7-under, 65 was the low round of the day and left him at 18-under for the week. Maverick McNealy, the former Stanford star that grew up in Pebble Beach was two back, closing with a 66 on Sunday.
Third-round leader Jordan Spieth finished three back after closing with a 70. Spieth finished tied with Patrick Cantlay at 15-under.
It was fitting for Berger to get it done on No. 18 as Saturday he drove into the water off the tee, finishing with a double bogey. Sunday, he ended it all with an eagle.
Following are pieces of Berger’s press conference following the tournament.
JOHN BUSH: We would like to welcome Daniel Berger, the 2021 champion. Daniel has won his fourth PGA TOUR title in dramatic fashion here at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Daniel, can we get your thoughts on doing it in the style that you did with eagle there on the 18.
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, I just, one of the best finishing holes I’ve ever played, obviously, with everything that happened on Saturday, hitting that ball out of bounds, to step up there and hit a great drive and then one of the best 3-woods I’ve ever hit in my life and then to make that putt is just as good as it gets for me.
Q. What’s going through your mind on the tee shot? You alluded to the drive you hit on 18 yesterday, and also over the 3-wood. Are you looking only at positive or is there any part of you that’s worried about a miss?
DANIEL BERGER: For someone that cuts the ball like myself, it’s actually, I feel like it’s a relatively easy tee shot because you can start it down the left in the water and you just cut it off the water. Yesterday I just kind of flared it. Today I stepped up there, and I wanted to be as aggressive as possible and I would rather go down swinging than making a conservative swing that doesn’t end up really well.
Then the 3-wood was, like I was saying earlier, one of the best 3-woods in my life. I’ve always struggled with finding a good 3-wood. It’s either good off the tee or good off the deck, but this one I’ve really been comfortable with for a long time. I just try to be aggressive. I wanted to win the golf tournament. I didn’t want to lose it on the last. I just wanted to go out there and try to hit the best shot that I could and I wasn’t going to be conservative on the 3-wood coming in.
Q. Lastly, that was a 4-iron on the second hole for your eagle?
DANIEL BERGER: 4-iron on 2.
Q. All the talk about the class of 1993, sometimes they leave you out, with the Masters obviously not getting in despite being in the top-15, do you ever feel like you’re underrated and is that something that at all motivates you?
DANIEL BERGER: I do feel like I’m underrated, but that’s okay with me. I just think it’s puts a little chip on my shoulder which is totally fine. I think a lot of the guys that they give credit to deserve credit. But I’ve been pretty consistent, and I’ve accomplished a lot for the short amount of time that I’ve played out here on TOUR. You look at some of the other guys and what they have accomplished, I’m kind of right in line with that. So I just want to continue to get better. I feel like, my goal has always been to be the No. 1 player in the world and some people will laugh at that and that’s fine, but that’s something that every day I wake up and I strive for.
Q. When you were dealing with your wrist injuries, was there a really bad moment or a dark moment and what kept you going forward?
DANIEL BERGER: It’s funny that you mention that. When I was hurt, I thought, man, I’m never going to be able to play golf again without being, without feeling like I was going to be hurt and not be able to do the things I know I needed to be able to do to prepare and play my best golf. I thought I didn’t really love the game until it was taken away from me for three or four months and then I was really sad. I think I was a bit lucky to have the team of doctors that I had to really get me back to a hundred percent. Now it’s a nonissue. I never think about it. It never bothers me and it’s really something that I can put behind me in the past.
Q. Will you be circling AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on your calendar every year from now on?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, you know, I think I’ve played it three times and I’ve had a 10th, a 5th, and now a victory. But I love Pebble Beach. Every time I’ve ever played it I wonder why I don’t come back more often, and this year was, I knew I was going to play it. I set it on my schedule early. I didn’t commit until kind of late, but I knew I was going to be here. It’s just a special place. Every time you step up to the tee, you just, you tend to take in the sights and sounds and don’t really focus on the golf as much and I think that’s kind of helpful for me.
Q. You talked about your tee shot on 18. Can you elaborate a little bit on the second shot, how far out you were and what it was like standing over that? I mean, obviously, knowing if you hit the shot that you did, you essentially set yourself up for a 2-putt to win?
DANIEL BERGER: Yeah, you know, I think I had 235 front, 250 hole, something like that. It was a little cold into the wind, so it kind of set up nice for just a full 3-wood. I’m usually a cutter of the golf ball, but the wind was a little off the right, which I think kind of helped me out a little bit, just being able to kind of hit a little cut that kind of comes out straight, and it was just almost lucky to have that kind of yardage coming in where I could, it wasn’t in between clubs, it was really just a full 3-wood. Didn’t have to take anything off of it. And at the end you just have to execute and I did that.
Q. Was there excitement? Anxiety? What was at that like over the ball as you stepped up to it?
DANIEL BERGER: I think a sense of calm. I’ve been in that position before and I wanted to go out there and win that golf tournament today. I didn’t want to be conservative and bailout to the right and try to get up-and-down. I wanted to be aggressive and I was going to go down swinging.