NEC WORLD SERIES OF GOLF

August 24, 1996

Phil Mickelson

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, we all came back out this morning, 8 o'clock, and I was in the fairway on 8 and hit a wedge to three feet; made birdie. That kind of set the tone for the day. It was a good 29 holes for me. I played them 4-under and I am just -- I am looking forward to tomorrow. I think tomorrow is going to be an interesting final round having the past winner and the guy who -- one of the guys who lost in the playoff who very well could have won the tournament, Billy Mayfair and Greg Norman. I think it is going to be an interesting final round, and obviously I am pleased with the way things went today and being on top of the leaderboard and I took an extra 20 from McCord on 16. I thought I would throw that out there, so it has been a good day.

PHIL MICKELSON: I started off having a couple of really good opportunities and nothing really happened. I lipped out or caught the edge from about eight, ten feet on one and I 3-putted 2 for par, and missed 8, 10-footer on 5, and it just wasn't quite clicking and I -- because it is a golf course where it is very difficult to just take it deep and really score low, it is much easier for a player to be patient. So -- and just kind of stay around par and wait for a birdie or two here or there. That is really what I tried to do. On 7 I rolled in about a 30-footer to get to 1-under. I hit 3-iron. We had 217 today. It was into the wind. I hit a good 3-iron about 30 feet. I had a couple of other opportunities and anyway, we got to 12 and I hit an 8-iron about 35 feet behind the hole and I knocked that ten feet by and missed it. So there was a bogey. And now, well, anyway, I hit -- I played 14, made birdie where I drove just in the edge of the left rough and hit sand wedge to about 12, 15 feet - 15 feet; made that. And then 16, hit pitching wedge from 115 to about 18 feet, made that for birdie. And then that was it. So it was just the kind of a day where I didn't make too many mistakes, made one bogey and so it was two 3-putts that cost me, but other than that, I had three birdies and it was a good day.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, yeah, we -- I have had opportunities to spend a lot of time with Billy. It has been a good opportunity for me and we have been sharing some travel expenses and so forth at some tournaments, and I really enjoy being around him, but on the plane we always kid about how, you know, how we want to go head-to-head and so forth, and be in a playoff and we kid each other about who is going to be 1 and 2 and so forth. Who is going to win, finish second, so, yeah, it is going to be a fun day. And it will be a fun day for Billy's wife, Tammy and my fiancee, Amy because they get along very well too. It will be difficult because they will both be pulling for our own sides, but it will be a fun day.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it was, with the break, just never know what is going to happen; whether you are going to come out playing really strong or let it kind of faulter and it turned out to be a real positive for me. I came out and made some birdies and was able to regain the momentum. We had the delay on Thursday of about an hour or so where I was 2-over through 7 in the middle of the 8th fairway and not looking the best. And it gave me an opportunity to kind of rethink where I was at; what I was doing; why I was giving these dumb shots away. And I came back out and made a couple of birdies, shot even par, and kind of kept me in the tournament and so the delays have actually been a help for me this week.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I wouldn't think I would need to tear it up. I think a good round of golf out here is 3, 4, 5 under par, and I would say primary reason for that is really no gimme-birdie holes with the exception of 2. You can reach that and make birdie, and 1, 2 and 3 are very deceptive holes in that they get you off to such a good start that you believe you can really tear this course up and then they hit you with 4, 5 and 6 which are holes that you can't even barely hit the fairway. 4 is extremely difficult to hit the fairway, and you make a couple of bogeys and all of a sudden you go from aggressive to what happened. So anyway, to answer your question, I don't think they will have to be too low, but it is a golf course, although it is difficult to shoot really low, it is also very easy to make some mistakes. So the key for me tomorrow is to play smart and be patient; settle for par on certain holes and then try and take advantage of the few birdie opportunities that I have.

PHIL MICKELSON: That is going to happen, but see, the nice thing about this course is that I know that 4, 5 and 6 are waiting. (LAUGHTER) It allows me to be patient and to not let that be a threat because I can make up ground on those holes if I play them smartly and make pars. But you know, I have as good a chance as anyone to birdie those first few holes too. But, to answer your question, although I am going to see some low scores on the first three holes, I also know there is a lot of tough golf holes out there and that it is going to be very difficult for anybody to continue taking it low.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, no, because I only had that one bogey, so I had, you know, I had a couple of good par saves. 11: I missed the fairway; had to punch out from 83 yards; ended up hitting an L-wedge to twelve feet; made that for par. So that was a good par save. But I really didn't -- other than those two 3-putts, I didn't really give any shots away and I made some really good putts, too, to get some back.

PHIL MICKELSON: Right. I wanted to try and cut something around the trees, but because of the lie I had I didn't really have that opportunity. I mean, if I had any chance at going for it, believe me, I would have. But instead, what I tried to do is I had 127 yards from there, and if I tried to go for it and went right through the fairway into the rough, now I am faced with a difficult shot out of a poor lie over a bunker - very difficult up-and-down. Instead, I laid back to 83 yards where it is just a good regular L-wedge. I was able to put some spin on it and get it close and in fact, I had a couple of chances to go in before it ended up twelve feet short and came back.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, thanks. So anyway...

PHIL MICKELSON: It is funny because I really didn't play that much over the summer, and I was a little tired and I was glad I took the time off, but I didn't perform the best in the U.S. and British Opens. I played well at the PGA and last week at International. Had a couple of good opportunities to win if I could have just gotten a string here or there of some birdies. This week -- I don't want to overemphasize it for me because it is, you know, the night before the final round and I don't want to think about it too much, but there is a lot at stake during tomorrow's round. I am fully aware of that. Not only is there a great first prize and everything, there is also a 10-year exemption that comes along with it. It would also be my fourth win of the year. That would be pretty sweet. And the other thing that is important is that this golf course is a major championship golf course tee-to-green. And grant it, the greens are fast, but tee-to-green it is very demanding. The rough is up. It is set up as tough or very similar to some Open or PGA-style golf courses, and for me to play well here and for me to win on that style of a course is going to be a huge boost, if I can do that. That is why I don't want to overstress it. But there is a lot of things at steak during tomorrow's round.

PHIL MICKELSON: That is a good question. Again, I didn't play back then, so it would be hard for me to answer. I think that if you see the players -- well, there are a lot of players that can win out here and I think that is evident by the field we have this week and there is a lot of players that are missing that are just championship names that you just can't believe aren't here, so there is a great depth out on the PGA TOUR right now. And it has made it very difficult for players to separate themselves and to win a great number of events. You know, Greg Norman had a great year last year, a super year and he won three events. That was the most anybody won last year on Tour. I think somebody else won three. Lee Janzen - there you go. Byron Nelson Award is being given to three victories last year, and right now, three is the most, myself as well as Mark Brooks, so it is very difficult to separate --

PHIL MICKELSON: I would hate to put that much emphasis on a major, although it very well could be true. I don't know.

PHIL MICKELSON: He was a senior at Arizona State the year before I came there, so we had never played together but he was there when I went on my recruiting trip and so forth and I would have loved to have played a year with him because he -- at the time he was the best amateur in the country; won the U.S. Amateur, college player-of-the-year, you know, the whole deal. He was the best player in the country. I would have loved to have had a year with him. Unfortunately, he came right out on Tour and got his card.

PHIL MICKELSON: On my recruiting trip, sure, I asked him what he thought, so forth, the whole deal.

PHIL MICKELSON: It is a 180, to say the least. My confidence has slowly come back. I had putted halfway decent last week, although I didn't putt the greatest. I made some. And my confidence slowly came around. And my confidence is very high right now and my -- the thing that I see is that the putts that I missed almost or could have gone in. The right over the edge putts. I hit good putts and so forth. And I have made a number -- my confidence on 3, 4, 5-footers is there. I don't know if you noticed I ran a few by. I feel like I could be aggressive and it doesn't bother me. I feel like I can make them coming back. Let us wrap it up. I got one joke for you guys.

PHIL MICKELSON: We just -- whatever hole he is on, I hunt him down; try and give myself a 15 to 20-footer so he will take it, and it started at -- well, I won here on 16-- on 16 last week at International I had a 20-footer for birdie and made it. I am trying to think where it started. It started one other time. It was Flint. What hole was he on there?

PHIL MICKELSON: Gosh, I am trying to think.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah. It didn't start there then. It didn't start there. I don't know -- it was the Western, 16th hole. That is where it was. I hadn't made a putt all day, and we made a bet. I ended up rolling about a 18-footer in, so ever since then I look for him because I feel like it is a good omen for me.

PHIL MICKELSON: No, just once. Just once.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, inside 10 he doesn't go for it.

PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, he always is throwing it down from the tower. This time I let him owe me.