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DELL TECHNOLOGIES CHAMPIONSHIP

September 2, 2017

Phil Mickelson

Boston, Massachusetts

Q. You're in good shape at 6-under after 4-under today. Just talk about being in position going into the weekend?
PHIL MICKELSON: It was a good start. It's fun to get in contention, and it's fun to start shooting some scores that I feel like I've been playing well enough to shoot. But it's been a good first two days.

Q. Is this a continuation of what you talked about yesterday, the focus on energy and does it ramp up the enthusiasm, as well, when you're in that position?
PHIL MICKELSON: It's encouraging. It's been so frustrating to know that I've been striking it or playing at a certain level and the scores haven't reflected it. It's been frustrating being on the course and not being able to visualize or see the shot I'm trying to hit and make a swing without much purpose or direction.

These first two days, my visualization, my mental clarity and focus have been much better but my energy level has been up. I'm going to go practice when we're done. I haven't done that in a while because I've been so tired after the round, and I just feel a lot better.

Q. Do you wish you had seen the doctor earlier?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, but I didn't -- I wouldn't have thought that that would have been the issue. I just thought, I don't know, I wasn't seeing the shot. I didn't think it was a medical thing.

Q. Talking with Steve last week, he said at the Bridgestone, you need to show him something as far as a captain's pick. He felt bad about it, being Steve, but have you had that sort of in the back of your mind, that I do need to see something from him?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, he needs to do what's best for the team. He needs to get the best guys on the team. These are fun events but they are also important and we want to win, and as a captain, it's his job, responsibility, to make the tough decisions and do what's in the best interests of the team and I support that either way.

I would love to be the one he felt added to the team but if I'm not, he's got to make that tough call. I totally understand it. I've had a tough time for awhile. But these two rounds, although they have been great, I don't know if that's enough or not. Let's see how the weekend goes and we'll go from there.

Q. The chips on 17 and 18, is that sort of the thing you're talking about where you have more focus over those types of shots?
PHIL MICKELSON: That's exactly what I'm talking about. I haven't been able to see how I want the ball to come off while I'm hitting it. When I'm looking at the ball, I usually have a mental picture of the shot and visualizing the shot, and then my body kind of reacts to that; creates that shot. I haven't been doing that. I've just been blindly hitting the shot.

But my short game has been phenomenal this week and yet I really haven't done anything different other than being able to see the shot that I'm trying to hit.

Q. What about the chip on 18?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, that was a good one on 18. But again, I've got a 64-degree wedge for a purpose like that where I can get underneath the ball and stop it a lot easier than a lot of guys who don't have that club, and that's where I save shots. I ended up getting that up-and-down fairly easily, where guys are going to struggle there on that shot. That's I didn't have that club.

Q. How much of an advantage was it having seeing Lucas play and also seeing Ian play, and how their balls and their shots reacted in terms of the way you would play yours?
PHIL MICKELSON: It wasn't going to matter either way. It was pretty obvious what the ball was going to do. It was pretty obvious how quick, it was, and it was impossible I thought to stop the ball short. But somehow -- I did, but I didn't think it was really possible. I just tried to stop it as quick as I could and not really worry about leaving it short, and it worked out well. I didn't have to worry about going long. I just needed to get it stopped.

Q. When is the last time you felt this good?
PHIL MICKELSON: It's been a while, yeah. I'm surprised. It's been quite a while. Certainly all year. It's been difficult all year. Energy level, focus, the whole thing. I'm glad to see that I'm on the right track.

It might be too little, too late, but it's not for me -- at least I know I'm on the right path. So whether it really clicks this week or next year, whenever, I know that I'll get it back.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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