PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 23, 2021

Tim Mickelson

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

Quick Quotes

Q. How did this happen?

TIM MICKELSON: Well, we beat everybody else.

No, like I had just said, he's actually been playing well over the last four or five months, just nothing really clicked all at the same time. One day his putting would be bad, the next day would be his chipping, but everything else was there. We had obviously one really great round at Charlotte and then faltered, but it's been there. You guys probably wouldn't be able to see it because we haven't been able to put it together for more than one round, but we all knew it was there, and he actually had told me three weeks ago, I think it was right after Charlotte, he said, I am going to win again soon. I just said, well, let's just make sure we're in contention on a Sunday.

I was trying to downplay the situation, but he said he was going to win again soon, and sure enough, obviously it worked.

Q. Seemed like he was pretty down after Valspar, missing the cut there. Was that just a blip or was it a low point?

TIM MICKELSON: I wouldn't say it was a low point, it was just another situation where he knew that he was playing well. We were just not getting anything out of our rounds. We were turning 68s into 72s. To win out here you need to be able to turn a 72 into a 68 or 69.

Q. Your journey since you decided to caddie for your brother until now, it's been up and now. There's been difficult moments and there's been this.

TIM MICKELSON: Exactly. This is obviously awesome. Any win is special, but to win a major championship at this stage of his career, I definitely teared up for the first time since caddying for him four and a half years ago.

Q. Throughout all this, did he ever doubt himself?

TIM MICKELSON: No, never. He never doubted himself. His will and desire to win now is as high as it's ever been in my opinion. Certainly it's probably higher than when I started caddying for him.

Q. Was there an example of that today?

TIM MICKELSON: I wouldn't say there's a specific example. He was just very good this week at staying focused, staying calm, staying present. He's talked a lot about not being able to focus at times, and I think the only time this week that I think he lost focus was his second shot on 18 yesterday. It was a perfect little 8-iron and the thing just goes 15 yards left of the green.

There was no specific moment. He just kept control of himself very, very well this week.

Q. Where does that will to win come from?

TIM MICKELSON: It's just in him. I think it's in the best players in the world at all times. You look at guys like Brooks who shines at the right moments, and I think the best players in the world, I think they all have that, and Phil has just carried that on for 35 years.

Q. It takes so much work to stay good. Where does the motivation come from?

TIM MICKELSON: He just loves golf. He loves golf. I mean, when he's at home, he's still playing almost every single day, sometimes 36. He's grinding. It never stops for him. I go home and all I do is sit on the couch and hang out with my little baby.

Q. What was it like sitting out there on 18 with all the fans --

TIM MICKELSON: Wow. So I saw obviously Tiger's situation at TOUR Championship but he was always able to get ahead of everybody. Yeah, he didn't say anything. I couldn't hear a thing through the whole darned thing. I just saw the cops pushing the way and I said I'm going to get right behind this guy. That's what I did to get through.

Q. Does it make you nervous out there, all that crush coming around you?

TIM MICKELSON: There was no nerve. It was obviously a cool sight. Considering where we are in the world right now, it was sort of weird, but it was also pretty darned cool to see.

Q. Somebody was saying that you can see him and he still has the excitement of a kid playing golf. You grew up with him. Do you still see that in him?

TIM MICKELSON: Absolutely. Yeah, he's the same guy he was when he went to college as it relates to the enjoyment factor of playing golf and competing. He just loves to compete. Obviously at the highest level like this is what he loves to do, but he loves doing it at home, too, even if he's playing with 4 handicaps, 5 handicaps, whatever it is. He just loves to compete against people in golf.

Q. Can you tell us about the Pelz draw? You guys almost have your own language.

TIM MICKELSON: It's a pretty simple language, but yeah, we'll keep that to ourselves. No, Pelz is basically a three-quarter shot, and then we go off of that. We have two numbers for every club and then we adjust based on that.

Q. What does it mean to you to reach the pinnacle of success in your career with your brother?

TIM MICKELSON: It's pretty cool. I mean, this is like my third career now in golf. Obviously coaching and then working with Jon Rahm and here and being able to help Phil win is very special, but he's the one that's executing the shots. I'm just telling him what distance I think it's going to go.

Q. Was he nervous at all coming down the stretch?

TIM MICKELSON: You know, if he was, he didn't show it to me. He didn't show it to me at all. I think he was disappointed with the result on 17 because he felt like he wanted to hit 7-iron. I thought if we hit 6-iron it took the water out of play down the right side, and it looked to me like it hit that downslope to obviously get where it was, but as we were walking up, I just reminded him, look, we make a 4 and we're fine. So we don't need to hit a miraculous shot. Let's just make sure to get a 4. If he was nervous, he never showed it.

Q. Can he get this momentum going into Torrey?

TIM MICKELSON: I don't see why not. Again, he's been playing well for a while. We're going to do everything we can to come up with a good game plan. Obviously being in San Diego, we're going to do what we can for preparations and be ready to go.

Q. Your brother has given him credit for helping him have fun this week. How did you do that?

TIM MICKELSON: I just told him to stop thinking so much. When he would get ahead of himself, I reminded him, hey, we'll worry about that when we get there. A few stories here and there. Maybe one or two might have been made up, who knows, but anything I can to keep his mind off of the shot that's coming up when it's not even our turn to hit.

Q. Where is that flag going?

TIM MICKELSON: It's already in the golf bag. It's his, so I don't know where he's going to take it.