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THE HONDA CLASSIC

February 26, 2016

Phil Mickelson

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Q. Kind of unusual to not make a birdie for you.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I hit 15 greens today and I didn't make a single birdie. That's a frustrating deal.

Q. A lot of fairways, too?
PHIL MICKELSON: I hit a lot of good shots. I'm really not complaining. I just had a hard time getting it in the hole. I don't know what to say. The score certainly wasn't very good, but felt like I played all right.

Q. Was it the reads or speed?
PHIL MICKELSON: I didn't hit it as close as I probably need to, and then I just couldn't get anything to go. Yeah, probably a little bit of both, read, speed, line, the whole thing just wasn't quite clicking on the greens. But thought I hit some pretty good putts. I thought I made the one on 17. Thought I made the one on 18. Just didn't go in.

Q. Any impressions from last night, the dinner, The Ryder Cup dinner?
PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, it was fun to go to Jack's house. We all enjoyed it. Had a lot of guys there. Jack spoke for awhile. That was I think something special for a lot of the guys who have not had a chance to spend time with him but it was pretty cool that he did that for us.

Q. What do you think was accomplished last night for the U.S. a?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think a lot of guys are working hard to get on the team, and trying to find a way to bring our best golf out. Thought it was fun. It was a fun, kind of unifying evening.

Q. Do you remember one of the first times you met Jack, and when you're in a group like that, can you see the awe and respect from some of the other players who haven't had the opportunity or might have been the first time they met him?
PHIL MICKELSON: Seemed like a lot of guys were intimidated or shy to speak up. But I've been fortunate to have some really great experiences with him having been -- with him having been the captain of four Presidents Cups that I was able to play on and spent a lot of time with he and Barbara. They are very special people. I think a lot of guys enjoyed having that time with both of them last night.

Q. Do you like his ice cream?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't remember if I had any. Be surprised if I didn't. It was probably great. (Laughter).

Q. Did you get a chance to talk to Tiger? Any sense for how he's feeling?
PHIL MICKELSON: We saw him there last night. He was fun, social, laughing. We had a good time. It was fun to be around.

Q. You didn't slap him on the back, did you?
PHIL MICKELSON: Uh, no, I didn't do that. No, I didn't do that. Was it his back or his knee that he had surgery on?

Q. Back. Curious on the swing, first couple of weeks leading up to Augusta, do you ever worry about the amount of wind you get here messing your swing up?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't think so. Because there are a lot of holes at Augusta that you get the swirling winds and you have to get kind of a penetrating flight, and having the chance to hit some of those shots down here I think can be beneficial around Amen Corner.

Q. This is your sixth week in a row. Is there any fatigue in a row that's causing you to miss putts?
PHIL MICKELSON: I didn't play last week. So I had four weeks and a week off and then I'll play here and Doral.

I don't know. I don't know if -- I'm certainly not tired. I was fresh and ready to go. I don't know what to say about a day like today. It's more just kind of an anomaly and you just kind of move on, because I really hit the ball well. I drove it well in a lot of crosswinds. I hit every fairway on the front nine. Usually when that happens, I make a lot of birdies, and it just didn't happen today.

So the good news is that I'm striking it well and I'll give myself chances tomorrow and hopefully we'll have some fresh greens, because I'm going off early, and maybe I can get that putter going.

Q. Do you have falling into the trap of thinking too much about the cut, even with all your years out here?
PHIL MICKELSON: No, not really. Yeah, not really.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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