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ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT SCOTTISH OPENJuly 13, 2014Phil MickelsonABERDEEN, SCOTLAND Q. 65 your lowest round of the week, admittedly in benign conditions; how would you appraise your play today? PHIL MICKELSON: It's tough relative to the other rounds, but what it's tough to compare it relative it the other rounds. But what I've felt is that as we've gone on, I've got a little bit sharper and sharper and my game got better and better. I felt better on the greens striking the ball. I still made too many loose shots and let too many shots get away. Lag putting, little things that I've got to work on. But this was really a good week for me to see what I need to work on these next few days getting ready for The Open and also it gave me some momentum. Q. Royal Aberdeen, your first time here. What did you enjoy most about the course? PHIL MICKELSON: I thought the challenging conditions the first three days is what I probably enjoyed the most, because I don't get to see stuff like that and really having to flight the ball properly through this thick, heavy air. It was a great way to work on your game. Q. How well prepared and how links sharp do you feel going into your open defence? PHIL MICKELSON: I feel a lot sharper than I did a week ago, and I think this is a great way to get ready for The Open Championship, playing in the Scottish. And now that we are playing some great links golf courses, like Royal Aberdeen and like Castle Stuart in the past, terrific way to get ready and like I say gave me an opportunity to work on my game and get sharper as the week went on, and also identify what I need to work on on the days leading up to the Open. Q. Do you feel in a good place? PHIL MICKELSON: I feel a lot better than I did a week ago. I feel a lot sharper and I feel like I have direction in my ball‑striking and direction in my short game and putting, and I feel good with those areas. But I don't feel as good as I did last year when I won. I would love to have had a higher finish than I did this week, but it was still a really good week for me. Q. Some guys can feel worn out when they play the week before; are you worried about energy levels at all? PHIL MICKELSON: The first couple of days it was tiring, but today with the benign conditions, it was a softer golf course.  It wasn't a course that was as draining mentally or physically. Q. How exciting is it to go to The Open next week as the defending champion? How much are you looking forward to that? PHIL MICKELSON: It's special. I'm going to savour it and enjoy it. But I just feel different now when The Open Championship comes up and I'm able to go there as a past champion, as opposed to a foreign player who has never been able to conquer links golf. I just go there with a whole different confidence level and enjoy the competition and the moment. I feel a lot less pressure to try to win it because I've already done it. That win last year is something that I will always cherish. Q. It's confirmed that this event is going to Gullane; obviously looking forward to going back to East Lothian? PHIL MICKELSON: I'm excited to go to Gullane and also excited to spend some time at Muirfield and reminisce on the wind from 2013 and play another great links golf course in Gullane. Q. Were you thinking about the course record at all? PHIL MICKELSON: I was 3‑under on the front nine and felt like I shot 40. It just wasn't that tough of conditions, and I let just countless opportunities slide because I feel like I was playing well and I had some good opportunities. But played okay the back, and it was a fun day. Q. You spoke about the kind of privilege of being back as Open Champion. Is there any more pressure doing that, or not really? PHIL MICKELSON: No, no, there's a fraction of the pressure that I felt before Open Championships from year prior, because once you've already won it, once you have held the Claret Jug and have won, it just feels different. You don't feel like you have to fight it. You don't have to force it. It's the same way with having won Augusta. Everybody wants to win the Masters and don the green jacket and go back every year; and once you've done it, it just takes the pressure off coming down the back nine. And going there tomorrow and returning the Claret Jug to the R&A, it's a great feeling. Q. And a 65, surely no better confident booster going down? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, 64 or 63 would probably add to that‑‑ but it's hard to tell with conditions today. But I felt much more precise in my ball‑striking as the week went on. But I still hit a lot of loose shots but I hit fewer loose shots each day. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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