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BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC


January 27, 2005


Phil Mickelson


LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you for coming in.

PHIL MICKELSON: No problem.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Well, we'd like the opportunity for you to share with us your round of 64 today. Why don't you make a couple comments on the day over there at LaQuinta, and then we'll have a couple of questions.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, obviously it was a great day. I had a great time. We were on the golf course talking about a variety of things, but more importantly, to shoot a pretty good score of 64, Joe Ogilvie taking off, he was in striking distance.

Q. Phil, Ogilvie may have taken over, but he was in here a few minutes ago saying technically you may be leading this tournament because of the 64 at LaQuinta, the toughest of the four courses. Do you feel like you're in the lead here?

PHIL MICKELSON: No, I feel like I'm 3 back. It was a good round, and the back nine at LaQuinta was playing a little bit tougher than maybe some of the other courses, but you could still obviously shoot a low score if you were playing well. I did a lot of long irons to make my birdies rather than wedges.

Q. You were worried about your short game and putting coming in here. What's happening now?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it's starting to turn around. I spent all day Tuesday with Dave Pelz working on it extensively, and it's starting to feel more comfortable as the week goes on. I was uncomfortable yesterday, even though I was making putts, and now I'm starting to feel as though I can really make them. It was a great day on the greens for me today.

Q. It sounds like at New Orleans last year that Joe Ogilvie had a really good time playing with you on the last round, and he was talking today about, I guess you guys are going to play at the AT & T. Can you provide some insight on what you think of his game? It sounds like you like him as a player and as a person.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I have a lot of respect for Joe Ogilvie on and off the course. I really like spending time with him because he's one of the more intelligent guys that we have on the PGA TOUR, but his golf game speaks for itself. He's a very solid player, very consistent, and he drives the ball in play very well, and I think that he is ready to win tournaments. I thought he was going to win New Orleans last year the way he played, and he lost by a shot to a very hot Vijay Singh, but I think he's ready to win now, and it's going to take all I can to fight him off.

Q. Obviously it's two rounds down and 14-under is very good, but 54 holes left to play. Do you even let yourself think about Sunday until after Saturday?

PHIL MICKELSON: That's exactly the way I will approach it. I won't know how it stands in the tournament until after Saturday until we've all played the same number of courses. I know that the scores will be low. No matter what golf course you're going to play, if you're going to shoot 6-under par, 7-under par, you have to drive the ball in play, hit a lot of greens and make a lot of putts, so I'm going to play extremely well to keep myself in contention, but I do feel confident as it progresses that it's going better and better.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Phil. We appreciate your time. Play well.

PHIL MICKELSON: Great, thank you.

End of FastScripts.
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