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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 16, 2015

Phil Mickelson

ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND

PHIL MICKELSON: To shoot 2-under for the day, it was good. It was a good, fun day.

Q. What's it like when you turn for town and it's right in your face?
PHIL MICKELSON: It was difficult. I hit -- I couldn't reach -- I hit 3-wood -- I hit driver, 3-wood on 13 and wasn't able to get there. I probably could have if I hit it a little more penetrating through the air, but 14 is driver, 3-wood, 5-iron. I mean, it was a real challenge. I thought it was fun to play it like this. I think we all enjoyed playing the golf course like this. It was designed to be played like this. It was designed to be played in adverse conditions with strong winds. There's plenty of room to play it, plenty of room on the greens to be putting and putting the ball on the ground. It was just fun. I wish everybody had that same challenge. It looks like it may even out tomorrow if the winds pick up in the afternoon. It may even out. But you need a little bit of luck to do well in this event. I thought I played well under the conditions I was given.

Q. Could you have done any more today?
PHIL MICKELSON: I made one mistake. I made a mistake on 6. I had been hitting 3-wood off the tee every hole very straight, and I tried to hit driver thinking I could get there, and I drove it in a bush and made bogey. My provisional 3-wood would have left me the easiest little 60-yard shot that I probably would have gotten up-and-down. It looks like that could have cost me two strokes. But I made up for it with some of the par putts and up-and-downs I made throughout the day.

Q. How tough was 17 today?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, 17 was tough into the wind. I probably got lucky playing it the way I did. I came out of my 3-wood a little bit so it was very short, and I didn't catch my next 3-wood that great, so I left -- I was left with 60 yards back into the wind. It was a perfect shot I could spin. It might not be a bad way to play the hole, given those wind conditions. But I was disappointed I missed that putt. I had about a six-footer. That would have been a heck of a par on that hole.

Q. Was that the 64 you hit?
PHIL MICKELSON: It was. I hit the same thing -- I had the same yardage on 18, hit the same shot. I didn't have as much wind on 18 because the grandstands is blocking out the approach shot there, so I hit a slightly different shot, but it was nice to finish with a birdie.

Q. Did you see some hole locations today that were unfamiliar to you?
PHIL MICKELSON: No, actually. We've seen these hole locations. The one on 16 right there by the edge of the downslope, we've seen that before. I've actually seen the one on 15 where it was front of the green catch area. I've seen that one before. I figured we would see some of these -- some funky pins, but I didn't think we saw funky pins today. I thought they were very generous. I was surprised to see the pin back on 6. We've seen 5 a number of times. I've seen that every year The Open has been played here. 15 on, six from the left, we've seen that one a number of times.

Q. Five years ago I vividly remember on a Friday when the winds picked up and you were in here, and you were very, very frustrated. How have you been able to change your attitude towards that and deal with it in a positive way?
PHIL MICKELSON: You need an element of luck if you're going to do well in this tournament. You need the luck of the draw. You just can't be given a disadvantage, a significant disadvantage the first two days. The winds are going to pick up tomorrow, and if they call play, I'll probably have the same reaction as I did five years ago. We were at a significant disadvantage today, and hopefully if we're able to play the entire day tomorrow, it will even itself out.

Q. Are the greens slow enough to handle pretty good wind?
PHIL MICKELSON: They are. Yeah, they're very fair. The ball was not moving on the greens at all. I didn't see any of that, even as windy as it was.

Q. You have a special relationship with the Scottish fans. What were they like today?
PHIL MICKELSON: I love playing here in Scotland. People have been so nice to me, and they really made the two wins that I had in 2013 special for me and my family. I just really enjoy coming here and being a part of this great game where it's the home. People have treated us so well, and it was fun.

Q. (Inaudible.)
PHIL MICKELSON: Not really. I think that if we could have seen it and had a chance to go low like the guys in the morning -- it's much easier to make pars. You can make pars out here. It's hard to make birdies under these conditions. So to have a chance to get off to a quick start and make birdies was very advantageous for the morning wave. However, if it picks up and blows and gusts like it could very well in the afternoon, it could even itself out, but if they call play, that would be very disappointing.
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