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WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 22, 2017

Phil Mickelson

Austin, Texas

Q. 5 & 3, pretty stress-free day?
PHIL MICKELSON: It was a nice way to get the matches started. I played fine. I didn't have to do anything exceptional but play good. And I drove the ball well. It was a good day.

Q. Your thoughts on Austin Country Club.
PHIL MICKELSON: I really enjoy it. First of all it's in great shape. It's very strategic. It has a great array of holes, meaning a drivable hole on 12. Reachable par-5 on 12. Drivable par-4 on 13. And then you have some really tough par-4s. You have some tight holes. The first few holes can be difficult. You have a great mixture of birdie holes, tough pars. And I think that leads to a lot of holes that are won, lost, instead of just halves.

Q. Phil, 7 of 12 fairways, you missed the last one by a foot or so and hit 15 greens.
PHIL MICKELSON: I drove it well on the front nine. I hit the first six or seven fairways, and that gave me an opportunity to be aggressive and not make too many mistakes. It's a course here where you can easily make mistakes and get in the wrong spot. I stayed in the proper spot and didn't make any mistakes, and didn't do anything exceptional, just played a good, solid round.

Q. The grandstand finish there.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, that was a fun way to end the day. It's really been a fun first round, a fun golf tournament and that was a nice way to end the day.

Q. And you have Daniel Berger who has just mowed down J.B. Holmes, 6 & 5. Two of you in form after your 5 & 4 victory.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, he's a tough competitor. He's a great player. He's got a lot of game. But everybody here does. There's no easy matches here. You've got to go out and play some good golf.

And Daniel and I, we played last year and he got hurt there on the 18th. I hope he just doesn't get hurt tomorrow.

Q. I suppose if you want to start in nice fashion, day one of match play Dell Match Play, that would be it, that's what it looks like?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yes, it was a great day. It was a good day. I played good, solid golf. And just hit a lot of solid shots, didn't make any mistakes really and had a nice day.

Q. How tricky is the golf course when it's kind of breezy like this?
PHIL MICKELSON: Sure, it's very tricky because of the severity of the slopes and let the speed of the greens. You can get in some spots around the green that you can't get close. So you have to be in the right spot. They're very firm, fast, and extremely undulated. If you're in the right spot working uphill then the shot becomes very easy. But if you're going downhill you have to stay within 15 feet. There are spots you can putt on the green and you can't be within 15 feet of the hole. You need to hit solid shots. It can be tricky with the winds. But when you do, you can make birdies.

Q. How do you prepare for a match play event because it's so different from a regular 72-hole tournament?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't worry too much about the results. You never know what is going to happen. I played really well last year, ran into a buzz saw. Patrick Reed was 8-under through 11 holes. It can happen. So you try not to put too much stock in the results. But you need to go out and focus as though it's the final round because you don't have the opportunity to recover from mistakes.

Q. 13 is a very sporty little par-4?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yes. This is a very tough pin because if you go over the water and you're over the green you're shooting straight back down the green that's severely pitched as well as downwind, you can't stop it. If you hit it to the right pin-high you don't have an angle and can't get it within 30 feet.

So there was really no good spot to be going for that green to get to that pin. And I ended up laying up, which isn't my favorite way to play. But I ended up making a 3.

Q. How important is the first day?
PHIL MICKELSON: The first one is critical because if you're going to have a chance to get through without winning a match you pretty much have to win that first match. And so based on what the other matches do, there's an outside chance that I could split the next two matches and still get through. But more than likely you've got to win them all.

The difference in holes where you have birdie holes, reachable par-5s, like 13. And you have some very difficult holes that can be tough pars. That mixture allows there to be a lot of holes that are won and lost, rather than just halved.

Q. You just mentioned not getting caught up in the results, sometime you run into a buzz saw. Is it hard that you can play great and lose, shoot 1-over and win, is that hard to wrap your mind around that?
PHIL MICKELSON: It is. So you try not to worry too much about the results. You try to get your game sharp and play well. But you also have to approach it as a final round, because it's a 18-hole final round, where you can get knocked out. There's a fine balance. But if you play good golf you should get through. You should do well.

Q. How important is winning that first match to set the tone for the week?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think that first match is the most important, because if you're going to have a chance to get through without winning all your matches you really need to win the first. Then there might be a chance that you can square up in the head-to-head and get through. The first match is critical.

Last year I won the first two and ended up getting knocked out. I don't know, it's a fun event. We love coming to Austin because we haven't been here in quite some time and it's great to be back.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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