THE INTERNATIONAL

August 6, 2003

Phil Mickelson

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: I think there's two areas. One I think you can see statistics and driving. I've driven the ball very poorly, just crooked. I think I've addressed that a little bit where I feel much better. After the Battle of the Bridges, I drove it better than I have all year.

The other area is wedge play. That has been an area that I had not yet turned around, but spent all last week working on it. Spent the last few days at the Titleist center working on it to the point where I feel pretty comfortable with it. It will be difficult adjusting the yardages here in Denver but my feel is starting to come back.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: It was reacting to the yardage to the pin and hitting the ball that certain distance, as opposed to try to do something mechanically because when you get with wedges, your swing can be off and you can still hit it pretty straight at the pin. You're not going to miss it too big so it is important to have the right distance.

Q. Mr. Vicars attacked the USGA about not doing anything about how lively the ball has become. Do you have a position on that and can you tell us what that?

PHIL MICKELSON: This has been a hot topic that has been talked about quite a bit lately. The golf ball in 1975 comes off the face at the same speed as it does now. It's not any hotter. Certainly it goes farther because we are optimizing launch conditions and spin rates. What has happened now in this past year, not everybody has gotten longer. The longer players have gotten longer and the golf ball -- we have golf balls today like the Pro V1x that are optimum for the longer hitters, that spin less, that launch and soar through the air much better.

Typically when a longer hitter swings harder, he creates more spin and drag and the ball does not go as far. It goes the same distance as a shorter hitter who needs that spin to keep it in the air. What we have done is optimize the golf ball for the longer hitters, which is why we see a discrepancy in the longest drivers on TOUR, why they are hitting farther.

I think that -- I don't feel that I should have to play a set of clubs that are a half-inch short or a driver that's 43 inches long when I'm taller and need a 45-inch shaft driver. I want irons that are suited to my game. I want the lie of the club to be two degrees upright. I don't feel I should have to play with a set of clubs that are four degrees loft and adjust to my equipment. That's the same case with the golf ball. I don't feel I should have to play a high-spinning golf ball and adjust my swing to accommodate it.

Now, if you wanted to have a one-ball rule, and force everybody to play on one ball, well, that's fine, as long as it's a ball that's best suited for my game, then I don't have a problem with it. (Laughter).

But for years I had been playing a ball that spun way too much and I had to constantly adjust my golf swing and change things to try to get the flight that many of the shorter hitters were getting naturally. Now I don't have to do that, and the game has become much simpler for me because the ball is matched up to my swing. And I look at it as an extension of the other sets of equipment.

For putters, I like a shorter putter. Why should I have to play with a long putter? I don't like that. I like a shorter putter.

My wedge, I like to have fresh grooves. I change clubs every three months because I want to have the ball grip. Why should I have to play a club with dull grooves?

Everybody personalizes their equipment and ball a little differently. So that's kind of my take on it. I don't know if I've kind of talked around it, but I look at it as an extension of the person's equipment, and I don't think that we should have to play one ball and have everybody adjust to that ball. Unless it's mine, unless it's suited for me, then I don't have a problem with it.

Q. So speaking of putters, I notice you've kind of been going back and forth between your old putter and the future. Is there one putter that you'll play here at this course? Have you settled in on one particular putter now?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, that's not totally true. I've played the Futura this entire year every round with the exception of two rounds in San Diego. And I had done something different with the Futura. My shaft I had put behind the back part of the putter and I was struggling with getting the ball on line and so I had gone to a more off-the-rack Futura. In fact, I spent a day with Scotty Cameron getting on his camera, matching up the shaft angle, which now swings the way I'm used to and getting the right loft and launch conditions on the putter. So it's still a Futura, but it is a different Futura than what I had been using. The shaft has the bend much like the one that they sell off-the-rack.

Q. Do you feel like that's the best putter for you at the International?

PHIL MICKELSON: I have tried my past putters and I have a black telium-inserted putter (ph). I just can't believe the difference in feel with, that lightweight aluminum face, the way the putter swings with the back weighted tungsten. I've tried to go back to my old putter thinking that might be the problem, but the Futura feels so much better. And my consistency is so much better especially with lag putting that I know that I need to make the change if I want to putt my best.

Q. You've a strong INTERNATIONAL field here this week ; what does that add to the field here with Darren and Philip and the rest?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it's really what the name of the tournament is about. They call it The INTERNATIONAL, and it's because they want to have an international field and competition. I think that it's very consistent with the reasoning behind the event being formed, so it gives the tournament credibility.

Q. I realize there's still a third of the Tour season left, but if you had to vote right now, who would you vote for tour Player of the Year?

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know. There's probably three or four guys that are right up there but I couldn't really tell you.

Q. Are you surprised to see Kenny Perry suddenly catch fire in his 40s after all these years of just being a very good, but not great, player?

PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not surprised. And if you look historically over the last two or three years, he's been ranked inside the Top-20 consistently. He's always been there. His level of play has been very consistent. He's always been considered a great putter and a great driver of the ball, and I don't know what the difference is because he looks to be playing the same way he's always played, only he's getting the results he should be getting now. I don't think anybody that's been out on TOUR is surprised at all.

Q. And secondly, you're playing a tournament in Japan in September. Now, I'm sure you get a lot of offers to play internationally, and you don't take many of them. Why this one?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I love playing in Japan. I used to go there once or twice a year for a number of years when I represented Yonix. I spent time back there with the engineers and I miss the culture. I think I've learned a lot from the culture. For a couple of years, it's been a difficult economy in Japan and things are starting to turn around and strengthen now.

And the Tour, also, is producing some incredible players, from Maruyama, to Tanakasan to Katayama who has played very well. Obviously Aioki, who is playing the Senior Tour now. You have the Iwosaki brothers that are great players, Nakajima. But there are some good Japanese players coming up that we have not seen yet or been exposed to that are playing the Japanese tour that I'd like to have an opportunity to see play, as well.

Q. What have you learned from the culture?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it's a very interesting culture. The thing that I probably respect the most is how much pride each individual has in what they do for a living. You notice it right when you get off an airplane and you get in the taxi. The driver, the taxi driver has white cotton gloves, white cotton linens over the seats. Every car is washed impeccably. Every interior is almost as though it were brand new. From the start all the way through when you get to the hotel when you have people greeting you with a smile and just very proud to be working there.

I'll give you a great story, too. My caddie, one night we went out with coach, and Steve can handle his liquor. Bones is a little skinnier fellow and he can't, and he ended up not being able to hang in his attempt. As we walked out of the restaurant, we were deciding what we wanted to do, it was only 10, 11 o'clock, I wanted to see Tokyo and we haled down a couple of cabs. And Bones gets in this cab, and he's looking out the back window as the cab drives away. Now, Bones is hammered. He doesn't speak any Japanese and he's got nobody with him. And he's in this cab looking at us like, "What's going on?" (Laughter.)

So we don't know if we're ever going to find him. You know, he's lost in Tokyo. (Laughter.) Well, when we got back to the room, he was there. The cab driver reached in his pocket, found his hotel key, took him to his hotel, got him to his room and took the exact change without a penny tip, without a yen tip, and I just thought that was very impressive. I'm impressed by their culture.

Q. Inaudible?

PHIL MICKELSON: This year has been by far the biggest change that I've ever seen. I saw some pin placements the last tournament I played at Hartford that Saturday. You always look for the next day's pins, and I just couldn't believe they were going to use that pin. And sure enough, it was six feet from the edge of the green, with it falling away.

I've been very surprised at some of the pin placements, but everybody has to play them. I don't have a problem with the pin placements. I'm just surprised at some of them that we've used. Again, as long as everybody has to play them, which we all do, it really makes so difference.

I remember looking at San Diego, the closest to the middle of the green that a pin was 12 feet from the edge. Every single hole, 18 pins on the last day was three or four yards from the edge of the green. Typically I've always heard six, six, six: Six tough pins, six medium pins and six easy pins. We are now pretty much going tough pins on 16, 17, 18 which I don't have a problem with it because I think the good players will shine the tougher the setup.

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