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THE NORTHERN TRUST

August 24, 2017

Phil Mickelson

Old Westbury, New York

Q. You salvaged something.
PHIL MICKELSON: I actually had a good day. I played well. I made some dumb mistakes and a couple of doubles, and had some putting issues.

But I really -- I had a good day today because I hit 11 fairways. The long game is starting to feel easy. I'm hitting iron shots with ease, and what I did really well last year, which was putt, I struggled tee-to-green last year, you putted really well. This year, I struggled these last few weeks with the putter but I'll get that worked out because that's the easiest thing to fix.

The fact that I've been striking the ball well and starting to come -- I'm going to have a good week. I know that it's not the greatest start, but it's not bad, either.

Q. The double, you talked about at the PGA just sharpening the focus a little bit. Is it a little lack of focus?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it was a lot better today though. Certainly I had a few lapses. Like I say, it's gotten a lot better. This last week was good.

Q. When your long game was going the way it was going today, is that an indicator it's going to keep going for the week?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, because it's been like that for awhile. Like I said, I've been driving it better than I ever have. My iron play is coming back. My distance control is coming back. All the things have really come back but the last thing is scoring and in this case, it was just putting.

But I'm starting to feel a lot more relaxed. I don't feel like I'm fighting it out there anymore. It's starting to come around.

Q. Where is your motivation this time of year after the majors? Is it FedExCup? Presidents Cup?
PHIL MICKELSON: It's more the frustration that I'm playing so much better than I'm scoring and then the results are -- it's just overcoming that frustration, and that's actually giving me the drive to even work harder.

Q. How much is trying to make Presidents Cup team, keeping the streak alive --
PHIL MICKELSON: That's a big thing for me. I would love -- I would love to be on that team but I've got to bring something to the table. And so if I can play well this week and next week and show that I'm playing as well as I know I'm playing, but the only thing that matters is the score. So I've got to go shoot scores. If I can do that and add something to the team, I would love to be on it. If not, you know, the captain's got to do what's best for the team so that's totally cool, too.

I feel like my game's coming around. I hope it's in time to make the team.

Q. Strick said that he would basically leave it up to you. Would you pick yourself?
PHIL MICKELSON: Like I said, I'm going to see how these next two weeks go. I'm very optimistic on the way I'm playing, but the scores are not reflecting that yet. If the scores start to reflect that, I think I'll be able to bring something to the table.

Q. How do you play freely when you do have this thing you really want right in front of you, knowing you have to score well to get it?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I've not focused on the results as far as making the team and winning and things like that. But it's the process of getting it all back. I'm starting to really relax on the tee-to-green part of the game and it's starting to feel easy again.

That's very encouraging, and now that that's starting to settle in, I think the putter, I'll be able to fix pretty quick. In fact, I'm going to go do that now.

Q. You and Strick talked, going back to Firestone and before that, he indicated to us the other day, it almost sounded like in addition to talking to his assistants, he was going to let you be honest with him as to how you're going.
PHIL MICKELSON: And I will be. I will be.

Q. Is that kind of -- I mean, you know, obviously you built up -- looking for the right word -- you built up enough from what you've done on these teams over the years to have that kind of leeway. How much do you appreciate that; that that's there for you --
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it's been great. But again, you've got to bring something to the team and add something.

If there are other players that bring more to the table and are playing better, then they need to be on it. Because you can also look at it and say, I've had the opportunity to be a part of a number of them, so it would be great for others to do that, too. But I'm not quite ready to pass that on yet. I want to be on the team.

Q. Can it make a difference whether you qualify?
PHIL MICKELSON: To me it does. To me it does. But like I say, I've got -- I don't really want to dive into it too much until these two weeks have gone by because there's a lot of golf left in these next two weeks.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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