MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 7, 2023

Phil Mickelson

Quick Quotes

Q. Can you just talk about trying to get it back today (No microphone)?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I scored really well today. I actually did not hit it anywhere near as well as I did yesterday. But I scored well. I got it up and down, made a lot of good putts.

With one exception of a poor chip on 6, I had a lot of good saves around the green, bunker shots, good 6-footers, and scored. That's what I needed to do yesterday, and I could have gone really low.

I'm actually looking forward to the weekend. I know I've been hitting it, playing better than I've been scoring, and I'm looking forward to just putting one round together that I know I'm capable of, and if I do that, it's going to be a really fun weekend.

Q. A round like this where you said you didn't hit the ball well but you scored, does it propel you into possibly hitting the ball better and also putting the scoring together?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, because I've been hitting the ball well consistently, day in and day out, and today was just a fraction off, little bit quick, and timing was just a bit off. I still hit a couple of good shots towards the end. The 8-iron on 18 was probably the best swing of the day, and making birdie to that pin is always a good thing because that's a tough pin to make 3 on.

I just kind of missed it around the course properly and let my short game take over and made some good putts and saves, and I ended up scoring. I need to do a better job of that when I'm hitting it well rather than trying to force it and make a couple of mistakes like I did yesterday.

Q. Today 6 has played the toughest it's played in ten years for the round. What made it so tough today? Is that hole normally -- have you seen it there that often?

PHIL MICKELSON: My playing partner made 2. It wasn't set up any more difficult than it has been. I hit a poor chip. Like I don't mind being short there. I don't mind being where I'm at. It's a pretty easy bump shot up the green, and I caught it heavy.

The lies are always tough here. They're tight and into the grain. I fat a lot of chips.

So I like to play flop shots because I know I'm going to stay underneath it and get underneath it because I know I'm going to fat it whether I want to or not so just play for the fat shot. I couldn't do that there; I had to drive it up the hill and caught it a little heavy and then hit a poor first putt.

I don't think it was set up any more difficult. We just didn't play it well.

Q. You were playing with Brooks and have been around him over at LIV. What do you make of what he's done the last two days? Have you noticed anything out on the LIV Tour that you've seen from him?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, he's been playing well. He won last week. He's had some momentum. Greens were difficult last week. They were fast. Every bit as fast as this, if not faster. He had good touch on the greens. You knew he was going to have a good week.

I'll bet the softness of the greens made him feel like he could be even more aggressive because they were softer and a little bit -- I don't want to say slower. That's not a good word to use with these greens here, but they were less fast. They were not as fast as they played last week. I'm sure he felt like he could be aggressive.

Q. With the weather coming in and the numbers he has out there, this is not a place people rally back from far behind. How difficult will he be to catch?

PHIL MICKELSON: A lot of crazy things happen here. We see a lot of low scores and then we see a lot of guys fall back, which you just never know. I wouldn't expect that of him, he's playing so well, but I also think there's a low round in there from other players.

If things aren't clicking, it's not the easiest golf course to shoot 3-, 4-under par. You can keep it around par, but if you're not playing pretty good golf, it's hard to keep it in the 60s. So guys can catch him if they get hot.

Q. Would it be fair to consider this place almost therapeutic, just what it does to people when they step inside?

PHIL MICKELSON: I would use the word more spiritual because, if you love golf, when you come here, it's more of a spiritual experience, where you feel this appreciation for this great game and the gratitude that you have.

Then this tournament, this course gives something for everybody to aspire to. If you're a kid and you're dreaming of playing in the Masters and you want to win it, it gives you something to aspire to. It did for me.

Then just like yourself, just to be able to play here would be great. It's like exciting, right, just to play here. I'm just kidding. But it's fun to just come out and just play here.

Again, it's something to aspire to to play the golf course where you see history made every year, and that's what this place does for me and I think all golfers.

Q. On 13 if you're contending, you're sort of in that isolated box back there. Does it feel even more isolated now if you're further back? How does it feel to be back there?

PHIL MICKELSON: It's my first year back there, so I don't know if I really would know. It's different. It's certainly a longer hole.

Q. Obviously your numbers have not been great of late over at LIV. Is there anything about this that's rejuvenated you? You've always talked about what it's like driving down Magnolia. You talked about the spiritual. But in your game, do you think this has ignited you a little bit? How would you describe the last couple days?

PHIL MICKELSON: I'm going to go on a tear pretty soon. You wouldn't think it. You look at the scores. But I've been playing exactly how I played yesterday, hitting the ball great, turning 65s, 66s into 77s. I'm ready to go on a tear.

I don't know why I'm playing well -- actually, I do. I've been putting in the work. One of my teammates, Brendan Steele, has been helping me with the driver. All he had to do was say the same thing that Andrew has been saying, but I listened to Brendan a little bit more than I do Andrew.

Q. Why is that?

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know. It's the same thing, but I just -- it resonated when Brendan said it rather than Andrew. I kind of fight him on it. Anyway, we've laughed about that.

I've been able to talk to some of my guys, like Tringale is one of the best putters in the game. I've been talking to him about putting. I'm putting great. I've actually been driving the ball great coming in here. Drove it pretty well yesterday. Steely has been helpful with that.

So I'm close to going on a tear. Even though the scores haven't shown it, like I'm hitting so many good shots, pretty soon I'm going to have a really low one. When that happens and it clicks, then the game feels easy again. Then I stop putting pressure on myself, and the scores just start to fall into place.

Like you wouldn't think that at 52. You'd say, oh, well, what a great couple of days. Really all it is, it's just on the precipice of playing as well as I played 15, 20 years ago because I'm seeing that when I'm at home, I'm seeing that in practice. I'm just not quite letting it happen when I'm out in the tournaments yet.

Q. And can that happen in the next two days?

PHIL MICKELSON: It's possible. Who knows when it will click. It could click tomorrow. I don't know. Part of it is just slowing my mind down and letting it happen and then it clicks. But that's kind of the biggest challenge in the game is not forcing it.