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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

June 1, 2016

Phil Mickelson

Dublin, Ohio

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the Memorial Tournament. We understand you'd just like to start with a statement to begin with.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I'd like to say that I'm disappointed to have been a part of that whole thing, but after a thorough investigation, I'm pleased that it's behind me, that it's over, that it's behind me. I'm appreciative of my family and friends and my companies and their faith in me and their support of me.

I feel excited to start playing golf again. I feel excited to have that part behind me and move forward.

Q. The weight lifted?
PHIL MICKELSON: I do feel a little bit. I think it was -- I'm just glad it's over, yeah. It feels good that it's over and it's passed, and it's in the past. Ready to move on.

Q. The Tour talked about a clause in the handbook about associating with gamblers, et cetera, et cetera. Have you talked to them about it, or have they talked to you?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I have to be responsible for the people I associate with. Going forward, I'll make the best effort I can to make sure I represent myself, as well as my family, as well as my companies, in the way that I want to and they deserve.

Q. So regarding the Memorial Tournament, have you met with the Tour on that issue?
PHIL MICKELSON: No, I haven't.

Q. Regarding the Memorial Tournament, this is your 16th start and you had three top 10S. Can you talk about coming back to this tournament and what it means to you?
PHIL MICKELSON: I played here in 1986 in the U.S. Junior. I always thought this was going to be a tournament and a course that I would play really well at, and I haven't. But I keep coming back because I love it here. I love the course. I love the fact that it's Jack's event. I love the way the people are here, and I want to turn that around. I want to play well here.

I feel like -- I saw Jack here today, and he said, Look, you're missing one big one, this one right here. And I agree with him. I've been fortunate to have the career that I've had, but I want to win this tournament. Granted, there's another one in two weeks that I really want to win too, but I want to win this one.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the Open. Are you going to Oakmont this week? Just how disappointed are you with what happened last time?
PHIL MICKELSON: I'll be there Sunday night. I'm going to play Monday, Tuesday. I love Oakmont. I think it's the hardest golf course I've ever played, and because of that, I'm looking forward to this year's Open Championship.

It's like five over one in 2007, and I can't wait to get back. But I need some work on the golf course the couple of days following this event.

Q. Are you disappointed with what happened last time when you hurt your wrist?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, but it turned out to not be a long-term issue and went away, and it was okay.

Q. Phil, you said you're going to be smart about who you associate with, but Billy was playing Pro-Ams on the Tour. So does the Tour have to also address that?
PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not singling out anyone. I just think that I just need to be more careful because, as a representative of companies, which I take a lot of pride in, those relationships mean a lot to me, and I need to make sure that I represent them as well as myself in the best possible way.

Q. (No microphone)?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know. I knew that this was going -- I knew what was going to happen for some time, but I'm just glad that it finally came out and my part ended and I can move on. I know that this is the first time -- or a week ago, the first time that everyone was made aware of details and so forth. But for me, I've known for a while that that was what was going to happen. I'm just glad that I get to move on from that.

Q. Do you have fear of facing any penalty or anything from the Tour? Is there anything that could happen?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know. I'm not really able to talk about -- I don't know. I don't know anything to even comment on that.

Q. Phil, if the reports are true, at 4:30 they're going to announce that WGC event at Doral is being moved to Mexico City. Can I get your reaction to that?
PHIL MICKELSON: Certainly it's going to be mixed because we've been at Doral for 57 years, and it's been a special place for the PGA Tour going back to the '60s, when it started. But it also offers an opportunity to take a World Golf Championship event outside the United States to another part of the world and bring world class golf to Mexico City. So I think there could be some positives.

I really don't know details. I heard about it this morning. Actually, I heard about it probably last night when Donald Trump talked about it. That was the first time I had actually heard about it. And then I was informed this morning about it. I don't know the details, but my emotions are kind of mixed. It's a great opportunity moving forward, but we also are losing a good long-term partner that we've had.

Q. So where is -- we haven't had a chance to talk about your golf, but you haven't played for a while. Where is your game, and how do you feel? What do you need to work on leading up to Oakmont in this week?
PHIL MICKELSON: You know, I've had a good year. It's been an inconsistent year. I've had some really good finishes. I've had some poor finishes. I had a really good week last week of practice with Andrew. I hate to say this because I've been saying this for a while, I think it's close. I think it's close. But I feel like it's kind of turned the corner. I feel like I'm playing some good golf, but I don't want to put that pressure on me right away to kind of have that expectation because you go out with the idea to try to win and that's the kiss of death because you're dealing with expectations rather than trying to hit shots and play the round.

So I'm trying to take a step back from the expectations or the result and let the way I believe I'm playing just kind of come out.

Q. Phil, talk about the level of play that Jason, Jordan, and Rory have reached so far this year?
PHIL MICKELSON: I mean, they're great players, so they've kind of played to how I expect them to play. They're just playing the way that we have come to expect from them, the kind of golf that we expect.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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