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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2017

Phil Mickelson

Augusta, Georgia

Q. Talk about the conditions.
PHIL MICKELSON: Man, I love it. I thought anything at par or better was going to be a great score and it is. But because the greens are receptive, you can make birdies and you can stop balls on the greens and make easy pars on a lot of holes.
The problem is there's a lot of holes out here that you can have a big number and you just have to be careful of that.

Q. What did that putt on 2 do for you?
PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, that was cool. To make a putt on 2 for eagle and get the round started like that was exciting. But I knew that there were still a lot of tough holes left out there and just trying to make pars was kind of the goal. And then take advantage of some of the par‑5s.

Q. Does that remain the goal tomorrow too with similar conditions coming?
PHIL MICKELSON: If the conditions stay like this, absolutely. You got to think par first and then if the birdie opportunities are there, then great.

Q. At the start of the day, Chairman Payne had a very poignant speech about Arnold Palmer and you have the pink head covers honoring Arnie. Just talk about how he touched your life as a person and as a golfer.
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, there are two people ‑‑ well there are two people who really brought this game to prominence and he is the one that helped create the TOUR, helped make it what it is, and give players like myself and those behind me a place to play and thrive. And his professionalism and his charisma comes across and everybody learns from it. It's very awkward not having him here, but yet you still feel him. Everybody feels Arnie and remembers all the moments that took place with him and interactions you had with him. It's a special week to kind of come member rate his life and what he's meant to the game.

Q. You and Bones are moving on your 25th anniversary. Talk about your partnership together.
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, having somebody like Bones for this many years makes me one of the luckiest players, because that player/caddie relationship is crucial to success, but more than that to the enjoyment of playing golf for a living. And having somebody like Bones, where we can have great conversation, banter, joke, and yet still pull great clubs and reads, having somebody like him has been invaluable to my career, absolutely.

Q. You talked about how you used to not enjoy playing in a lot of wind because of your ball flight and you made the transition through the years. Is that why you are now seeming excited when the wind is up?
PHIL MICKELSON: I love it. I love it around here especially because the wind is going to magnify your misses and a lot of the guys that aren't familiar with this course and where you can go to on certain holes for certain pins will miss in the wrong spot and end up making big numbers. And because it's, because I played here so many times and just kind of know where to go.
I might miss it big, but I'll miss it in the right spot and I'll have a good chance to salvage par.

Q. Have you seen a wind like this here?
PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, yeah. I remember the year Vijay won, it was brutal Thursday Friday and it was a lot tougher than this because simply the greens were firm. And when the greens were firm in this wind, you had to be even, they were a fraction the size that they are now.
But if you landed on the green here, they will hold and they will receive and I thought that it was a great job, because it's very playable, even in these challenging wind conditions.

Q. Was there a hole today or a shot where the wind really impacted you and kind of a good illustration of what you're talking about?
PHIL MICKELSON: 12's going to be a big one, because 12 is, when it's calm, you're thinking 2. But on a hole like, a day like today, you're praying for par. I'm sure there were a lot of big numbers out there.
The wind was switching while I was standing over it going from in to help, the guy in front of me it helped a little bit, he flew into the back bunker. And then it starts gusting back in. And you can see the group in front of me, Martin Kaymer, see the ball standing up in the wind and barely make it over the water and into the bunker. So guessing the, guessing, waiting for the right wind to pull the club for, all those things factor in and 12 is really tough.

Q. You said earlier this week that the tee shot on 13 was your favorite shot on the course and the most important. Today you carved it perfectly. What did that do for your round?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it allowed me to get it up, to go for the green. I had 5‑iron in and I hit it over the green into the back bunker, I brought it in a little too low.
But it allowed me to play it for birdie and I ended up making birdie because, again, I was able to take advantage of the short game.

Q. Guys get used to going at 15 in two. So what's the biggest challenge of laying up there with the down slope and all that?
PHIL MICKELSON: In the past we used to get really bad lies. And it would be tight, into the grain, on a downhill lie to that. We don't have that problem anymore. The grass coverage is phenomenal. We have beautiful lies. So the challenge is not over‑spinning into the water. The challenge is judging the wind, so it comes in flat enough and stays on the section. But we're not going to see the fat balls into the water like we used to see because the lies are so much better.

Q. Would you call a day like today like a survival type of mindset?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it's a day you're not going to go low, you just try to fight to stay around par and stay in it.

Q. Your reaction when you saw Dustin's name come off the board?
PHIL MICKELSON: I just found out on 18 green that he didn't start and, gosh, he's been playing some great golf. I know it's disappointing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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