MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2001

Phil Mickelson

PHIL MICKELSON: It was nice. It was one of a few mistakes that I've made. I feel like I've made some good decisions the last two days, and the decision to attack that pin and get a little bit overaggressive missing it right on 18 was a poor one. If I played left, or play at the pin, I'm going to have a nice look at birdie and instead I get a little overaggressive and lost it to the right and went in the one place I couldn't miss it. And I knew it, too, I knew that was the one place I could not miss it. I was overaggressive with the wedge. I had a pitching wedge and I was hitting it well and felt like I could attack. When you miss it there's nothing that you can do. It's just going to be a 12- or 15-footer and I was just fortunate to not cost myself a shot.

PHIL MICKELSON: Just four or five feet. I was just trying to go at the pin and push it to the right and I pulled it with a little draw, got it up in the air and it kept drifting.

PHIL MICKELSON: I just played it up into the hill. I just went up into the hill. In relation to the hole, it was probably -- the hole was probably about 20 or 30 feet below the slope.

PHIL MICKELSON: I think that having the mistake happen on 12 was important for me, because it opens my eyes to how challenging that hole could be. I had an opportunity today, with the conditions, to get it back, to get three of those shots back. It was a poor swing unfortunately, landed on the green but just spun off and went into the water. I think that having had that happen early was important, because first of all, I can recover and second of all, I'm going to be more aware and do my best not to have that happen again.

PHIL MICKELSON: But I had plenty of club with a little bit of hurt. It was 154, which I can hit my 8-iron about 160, 162. So there was not eight yards of wind. I just came out of it. I lost it left and the wind was also right-to-left and pushed it left at the hole. Had it been right at the pin, it may have carried the bunker, gone in the bunker, and I would have been fine, which the line I had intended, but when it went in, that's when I knew I had potential trouble. It landed on the green but spun back off.

PHIL MICKELSON: I haven't had that experience before. Would you share what that would be like? (Laughs). I felt like -- the disappointing thing was now 14, 15 I had to birdie just to get those two shots back, I could not gain ground. I was able to do that and play those smart. I didn't get aggressive on 13, and I could not because of the pin. I could have gotten aggressive on 15, but I didn't want to have the same thing happen as on 12; whereas if I lose it left, all of the sudden it has got a longer carry over the water and so I play it to the right and 2-putted for birdie and got both of those shots back that I lost. It was difficult playing 13 and 15, knowing that I need to birdie, just to get back to where I was, but I was fortunate to be able to do that.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I'm very excited to be where I'm at. I've played two solid rounds, I feel. And I've been playing well. I am excited about having an opportunity to win this golf tournament heading into the weekend. To be tied for second and be only two shots back is a very good position to be in, and something I would have taken, certainly from the onset of the event. And there's something that is very special about having an opportunity to win here, and I'm very fortunate that I have a chance heading into the weekend this year and I'm looking forward to taking advantage of it.

PHIL MICKELSON: I appreciate you bringing that up and have me think about that. Thank you. (Laughter.) I have really knocked the ball very close to the hole with my irons. I have had a bunch of tap-ins for birdies. I have not made any excessively long putts. I think the longest putt that I really made today was that par putt on 18 but the putt -- but the longest birdie putt was only eight or ten feet.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I would say, again, just as I had said earlier, I don't think that there has ever been a better opportunity for me to breakthrough and win a major than this event right now. I've been playing well. The golf course sets up well for me. I feel as though I'm making -- or know what decisions to make, and how to manage my game around Augusta National. I think that this weekend provides the best opportunity for me.

PHIL MICKELSON: Just something that's been -- that's been happening all week, really, is that the second cut is creating fliers. I had a ball that just jumped and sailed. I had a 5-iron into the wind that flew 230 yards in the air. You just can't control that. I tried to play for it a little bit, but it just took off and soared through the air. Everybody has got to play with it, or deal with it, and it was just a tough shot. I chose to be long of the hole, as opposed to taking less club and playing more for the ball to jump that far and come up short and have that chip. I did not think that I would fly it 30 yards by the pin, certainly, over the green to where I was.

PHIL MICKELSON: It's not a weight, because I think that every tournament that I -- every major that I play in provides a better and better opportunity than in the past. So that's basically where I was heading with that. I think that because I've been playing well this year, and because I played well last year, and because I played consistently well in the majors last year; meaning I played well all four of them, which I haven't really done in years past. I felt very comfortable heading in that I would put myself in contention. And that being the case, I feel like now, I'll make the right decisions and manage my game a little bit better than I have in the years past.

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know. I don't know. You know, is it an advantage or disadvantage to not be playing with Chris DiMarco? I mean, I don't know. I don't think it matters either way. Now, I certainly hope that we have an opportunity to go head-to-head on Sunday. I think that that would be fun. So I hope that we all have good days tomorrow.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, if you grew up in my household with my parents, you would learn to bounce back from things -- huh, Mom? I don't know, I think that, for me, when I play golf, and I make a bad swing, the next swing that I make, I'm not trying to fix the previous one. I'm trying to hit a good shot. And so, I'm always working out of the positive, as opposed to the negative of fixing bad swings. That, to me is not a fun way to play. So when I stood on 13 tee, I was not trying to not hit a block. I was just trying to make a good swing and cut it around the corner. I think that the ability to refocus on what I want to do, as opposed to what I don't want to do allows me to make some birdies, even after bad swings.