WGC NEC INVITATIONAL

August 23, 2001

Phil Mickelson

PHIL MICKELSON: I shot 3-under today and played okay. Certainly there were a lot of low scores and the course was playing very -- I don't want to say easy, but very vulnerable because the greens were soft. The fairways were soft, which actually helped, even though it played longer and allowed us to hit more fairways and attack more pins.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I really look forward to this tournament every year. This is one of my Top 3 tournaments of the year. I think that the golf course is one of the best we play. The support from the community is some of the best that we have, and it's a course where I played well in the past. The last five year, I've played very well here, so I look forward to this tournament very much. It's very easy for me to get up for me vent.

PHIL MICKELSON: I could think of one. Help me out with the other. On 10, yeah. You know, I don't know what to say. I played -- hit 67 pretty good shots and certainly I'm not going to make every putt. It's kind of comical to me that every player is going to miss a putt inside three or four feet just about every day. It's just funny how I have had it brought up after each round. It's understandable, but I think I'm third or fourth in the putting stats this year. I think I've putted pretty well this year, and it's just interesting to me.

PHIL MICKELSON: I thought I putted really well. In fact -- even if I don't I make a lot -- but I hit a lot of putts on line. The putt on 10 I misread and that was a short one. But I had a lot of putts that just didn't go in that I hit on line, which is a good sign. I'll probably switch putters, not because I didn't make anything, but because the putts that I did miss, I missed to the right, which was a slight pull, typically. I have another putter that the slight miss will be to the left so I'll probably just switch for the day tomorrow.

PHIL MICKELSON: Sure. I love to do that. Any time I don't have a Pro-Am, I typically will do that. And sometimes, I'll have to pull out of the Pro Am and get in Wednesday night. I did that at Flint this year to work. I didn't play a practice round because I was working with Rick Smith getting ready for the Flint tournament, as well as the PGA. Possibly, it keeps me on my toes, having not played a practice round. But more importantly, I come in fresh. By being ready to play, and having not gone through long, drawn out practice rounds and being around the course with a lot of distractions allows me a good preparation for the event. Everything is going very well, yes.

PHIL MICKELSON: Very much so. I was one of the more out spoken individuals asking not to move it, and, again, that fell on deaf ears, and I'm certainly disappointed we won't be back here next year. Certainly the amount of support this community has given this event, I think it's not a smart move on our part. But, again, I really didn't have any say in it.

PHIL MICKELSON: That has nothing to do with any other course or where we're going. It just has to do with the fact that this city has hosted this event for a number of years, and has been a remarkable site. It's had tremendous community support. It's been in great shape every year, and it's been a wonderful site to hold a tour event. It's probably one of our best sites that we have. It accommodates people well. The parking is great. And to move it, I just thought was not a good move. But I understand the reasoning. I just disagree with it. The reasoning is that it's a World Golf Championship and we have to move it throughout the world in different parts of the country and so forth. I just -- I understand the reason. I just don't agree with it.