U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 15, 2001

Phil Mickelson

PHIL MICKELSON: What would you like to know? You've got three minutes.

PHIL MICKELSON: Today was a very easy day for the way the golf course played. There wasn't a breath of wind, after the rain last night the greens were much softer. The more holes you had a chance to play the luckier you were. Unfortunately for me I didn't strike it the way I wanted to or the way I did the first day, so it played very difficult, and I was fortunate to shoot 1-under par.

PHIL MICKELSON: It's a good omen.

PHIL MICKELSON: For what? To win. There is -- well, I don't know, I don't know how to answer that.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yes, that's why I was late here. I did not strike the ball the way I wanted to. I've been hitting the ball well this week, and it was just a little off, and I just wanted to get it straightened away on the range.

PHIL MICKELSON: It was 174 to the hole, I hit an 8-iron and it landed about a yard short and one or two bounced into the hole. It was hard for me to see, though, because I was hidden by the bunker, I didn't actually see it go in.

PHIL MICKELSON: It was more -- again, as I said earlier, I didn't strike the ball the way I wanted to.

PHIL MICKELSON: I was just looking for a little guy, and -- I just like to give balls away during the round, and mainly to kids. And he was the first one that I saw.