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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 20, 2014Phil MickelsonHOYLAKE, ENGLAND Q. Was today more what you're looking for? PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, today was kind of what I felt -- I played well, and I didn't give any shots away and kind of shot what I thought I should shoot over there. It was a good solid rounds of 4-under. It was actually a good day for me to kind of get a little bit of confidence, and know that I can get the scores out of it that I feel I deserve and not have to press heading into Akron and the PGA. Q. (Inaudible.) PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it's obviously very impressive golf. It's not an easy golf course and he's got complete control of what he's doing. Q. It's always hard to come back and win again the next year. But from a defense standpoint do you feel like you put up a good defense? PHIL MICKELSON: I played about as well as I could. I didn't score quite as well as I could, but I played about as well as I could. In looking at the lead going into today's round, from the way that I teed off on Thursday and Friday, I was only a few shots off the lead. And I think that shows that my game is not far off. To win this tournament you need to not only play great golf, but you need to have a few breaks and you need to have luck and you need to have some a good deal with some other factor that you can't control. Q. Is it still possible to dominate or sustain stretches or is it just kind of you get -- PHIL MICKELSON: Well, you never can discount -- we used to say there will never be another Nicklaus, and then along came Tiger. You never want to discount the possibility of someone coming along and dominating. But nobody has really asserted themselves week in and week out the way Tiger did for such a long period of time. We'll have great performances, like Rory this week. Like Kaymer at the U.S. Open, and so forth. But it's very hard to do that week in and week out the way Tiger did. That's why it was so impressive what he did. Q. (Inaudible.) PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it is, but it's also a good motivating factor for me knowing how great it felt to win this tournament, makes me want to work harder and get ready and prepared for St. Andrews next year. I can't think of a better site golf course to win any tournament ever on than St. Andrews. And to have The Open back is a great opportunity. And I'll be working hard to try to get it back. Q. Did Dawson have a word with you when you came off the 18th? Can you say what he said? PHIL MICKELSON: He was just thanking me, and I was thanking him for a great year. We've been in touch a lot this year, and he's been terrific. He's done such a great job with the R&A. And it's been fun representing him, the R&A and The Open Championship. Q. Where is that empty spot that the Jug was on for a year? PHIL MICKELSON: My heart (laughing). Q. In the house or -- PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I just kind of carried it around. Q. You got double points this week, this is big what you did today, you're back close to being back to nine. How important is is it for you to get points versus (inaudible.) PHIL MICKELSON: I can't really control the points too much. I don't want to look at it and think about it too much. If I play like I did this week at Akron and PGA, I'll be fine. I'll be on it. But it would be beneficial for both me and Tom if I can do it on my own. Q. In your head does it matter to you or do you feel differently if you get in on points? PHIL MICKELSON: Yes, it does matter to me. It's been 19 years now that I've made it on my own, and I think it's a record of consistency to play that well to make the team on your own without being a pick for almost two decades, and I'd like to keep that streak going. Q. (Inaudible.) PHIL MICKELSON: I don't think you can use one round as a barometer to pick anybody. I think that if I continue to play the way I did this week, and I believe I will, over in Akron, over in the PGA, and then I'll have two more events in the FedExCup that I think that would be enough to get on my own. If I don't get on my own, I don't know if I played well enough this year to deserve a spot. So you want players that are hot, that are playing well. And I need to step up and start doing that. Q. (Inaudible.) PHIL MICKELSON: Not really. I've seen him a few times, but we've been on opposite ends. Q. If Rory gets the third leg of the Grand Slam (inaudible.) PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, that's a pretty impressive thing for him to do, especially given that the one that he's missing is the Masters. And you know with his length and the way he plays and how well he plays that golf course, that that definitely will happen and probably soon. And that just shows that he's such a complete player at such a young age. Q. Obviously you know Rickie very well. He's playing better and better. This week he's phenomenal, just talk about him going forward. PHIL MICKELSON: He has gotten monumentally better this last year. He hasn't won, so you don't necessarily see the results. But when we play together, it's a whole different player. He's incredibly longer, he's got more power. He's got more consistency. His irons have better distance control. They fly straighter, they don't curve as much. And he's knocking one or two within gimme range every single round now. And I think he's on the brink of really doing something special, of breaking out. Q. (Inaudible.) PHIL MICKELSON: Yes, I love it. I played well there in '08 at the Ryder Cup. I played well in my first PGA there in '96, as well as did okay in 2000. I love Nicklaus courses; they've been good to me. As high as I'd like to hit it and aggressive with the iron shots, you can take advantage of a lot of the holes there. Q. (Inaudible.) PHIL MICKELSON: It does, yeah. I actually have a really good -- it's kind of reignited my excitement because it started to click, my game just started to click. I hit a lot of good shots. I had total control of the irons. I hit a number of fairways and didn't have any big, real big misses too much, other than two or three shots. It was a good week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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