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THE HONDA CLASSIC

February 24, 2016

Phil Mickelson

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Q. A few thoughts on being here?
PHIL MICKELSON: I've really enjoyed playing here the last couple years. It's a wonderful golf course. It's a difficult golf course, and it's a fun tournament. I've enjoyed playing here. I didn't play it there for quite a while. Really enjoyed coming back. After having a week off, I'm ready and excited to get back to playing.

Q. When you get to the Bear Trap, does your mind-set change, knowing what's ahead?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't think -- it kind of changes hole to hole, day-to-day because of the conditions and the pin placements. When the pins are tucked along the water's edge, when the wind is howling, you're treating it as though it's a tough par and you play it accordingly.

There are some pin placements there that you think you could be aggressive at. That back left pin on 16, you can be aggressive if you get the tee shot in the fairway, so you start thinking a 3 on that hole. But for the most part, you're happy to get through that stretch at even par.

Q. Obviously you're disappointed with the result and the way tended, but you've been talking about how well you feel like you're playing. Did you feel like you needed a week off? It almost sounded from listening to you you were ready to get right back at it again?
PHIL MICKELSON: I would have liked to have played. I really enjoy Riviera. I think it's one of the best courses we play on TOUR. I would have liked to have played. But after going hard a month and playing well for that period of time and having a couple of chances, it was probably in my best interests to take a week off.

But either way, all three kids had the week off of school. We went skiing and had a great time together. It was a great family trip and times that I cherished. It worked out great but I'm ready and excited to get back playing.

Q. Did you feel walking off 18, regardless of the kids' schedule, that you wanted to get back out -- that's where I was going --
PHIL MICKELSON: Not necessarily because of the result but just because I'm excited to play. I'm enjoying playing. I'm loving playing right now. I had a good couple of days after the ski trip with Andrew Sunday and Monday to get my game ready and make sure it was back where I left off. I'm excited to get back out and play.

Q. You mentioned not playing here for awhile and now added it back in the schedule. Is there a reason for that?
PHIL MICKELSON: A lot of it is just scheduling. I've played a lot on the West Coast, and I needed a couple of weeks off, so this tournament has always been kind of the first one on the Florida Swing.

The other thing is, now, with my kids having a week off of school during the West Coast Swing, I'm skipping a week there and adding 1-over here.

Q. Going back to that putt at Pebble on Sunday, it sounds like you took more positives out of the week. Curious how much you reflected on it, you've been out here long enough obviously.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, whether I won or lost the tournament, I was still using it as a steppingstone for the rest of the year for where my game has gone. It's gone through a difficult time for a couple of years. And the fact that I'm playing well again, I'm in contention, and I'm hitting shots with ease; I'm showing up at the golf course not trying to find something but continue refining what I'm already doing, it's a different feeling when I show up.

So win, lose or what-have-you, it's not really affecting the confidence that I have or the direction that I feel like my game is going.

Q. You talk about being excited. Is there one part of your game that makes you most encouraged?
PHIL MICKELSON: Driving is most encouraging for me. I'm averaging over a fairway a round more than I have in the past, and that's counting two poor days at Torrey.

Q. Can you talk about Rickie's demeanor and how he handles himself?
PHIL MICKELSON: He treats everybody well regardless where he's at or who he's talking to. I think that's a real sign of what a quality guy he is, and the fact that he happens to be one of the game's best players is exciting for the game of golf.

Q. What about the demographic he's brought in, the style that he wears? I'm out there today and there are guys with tattoos and all kinds of stuff that you might not have seen at a golf tournament five years ago.
PHIL MICKELSON: He does, he's very appealing. He carries himself with a lot of charisma and people are drawn to him. The fact that in the last year or two, his game has gotten to where it's at is exciting, as well.

Q. Rickie gets asked almost every week now, when are you going to win a major. When you look back to your career before you won a major and having been close a number of times, how much did that weigh on you, and how much easier did things become once you won that first one?
PHIL MICKELSON: It was difficult to be patient. I was 34 when I won my first major and I had had multiple opportunities for over a decade, so it tends to wear on you after a while.

But I always believed and knew that I would end up winning a major. In fact, I knew I would win multiple. So it was never a hurdle. It was more of when this happens, it's going to take off. And not that five is a ton, but it's a lot more than zero where I was at.

I think that THE PLAYERS Championship last year was a big steppingstone. That's a world-class tournament, and it's just a minor step below a major. I feel that the way he drives the golf ball and the way he's striking it now, it's inevitable.

Q. Can you speak to the balancing act with trying to stay patient with how well you're playing and chasing the result; is that the biggest challenge for you?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think it is the biggest challenge is staying patient, when I know that I'm playing at a level that's high enough to win. The challenge is to not think about the results and just play, which I've actually done fairly well the first month. But that's going to be the challenge.

But again, it's like the way it was when I was trying to get my first major. I know that it's just a matter of time. It's going to happen in a week; because I'm just playing too well for it not to.

Q. How much time off the course do you take reflecting and thinking about things --
PHIL MICKELSON: It wasn't so much the not winning. It was the searching and the frustration of knowing that I could play and compete at a certain level and not doing it. And that was the challenging thing for me to deal with.

But now that I know that I'm on the right track and I'm starting to hit shots again with the way I used to and even better, that's what's exciting for me. So it's not frustrating showing up at a golf course. It's not frustrating if I happen to not win or fall a shot shy, because I know that the next week I'm going to have another chance.

Q. Yesterday PÃ¡draig mentioned the fact that one thing lacking on the golf course is players being able to hustle and when asked who is the best hustler, he said you --
PHIL MICKELSON: There's so many different elements of the game of golf that I love, whether it's playing with your family or your kids or your parents, whether it's going on the golf course and being alone and challenging yourself, or anything make with your buddies and having a little game and talking smack, it's such a great part of the game. We all love it. We all enjoy it. The longest drive in the group amongst your buddies, or certainly the lowest score, who wins the match.

Also tournament golf, I love the tournament golf element. But that side that we have, and PÃ¡draig and I, we have had some fun matches, especially with his caddie, Ronan, and Bones, and we've had a good two on two match over the years. Those are what makes the game of golf so special. I get excited to go play those matches, even though it's not even a TOUR event.

Q. Talking about steppingstones, trying to get your game back to where it was a couple years ago. Do you feel ahead of schedule at all based on where you thought you might be before the West Coast Swing started?
PHIL MICKELSON: I feel that I'm probably where I expected to be, and I was nervous about the first month, how the results were going to go; was I going to play at the level that I thought I was ready to play at.

And now that I am, now that I'm in contention, now that I feel much calmer and more relaxed playing and showing up on the golf course, I know it's a matter of time. It would have been great to have gotten a victory early on the West Coast, but I just feel like each week is going to provide another opportunity, whereas in the past, I felt like I was kind of hit or miss when I would show up.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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