MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2023

Phil Mickelson

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Phil Mickelson to the interview room.

Phil, you started the day ten shots behind the lead, and you fired a 7-under par 65 to leap into contention. This makes ten top three finishes in the Masters, along with your three victories. Congratulations on being runner-up today.

PHIL MICKELSON: Thank you. It was a fun day, and you just never know what can happen. There was nine holes left to go when I walked off the golf course. I was two behind and Jon played an amazing back nine. I mean, a lot can happen on that back nine, a lot of good can happen and a lot of bad, and he played some incredible golf all week long, and is a very worthy champion. Easy to see why he's regarded as the best player in the world, and he validated that today.

Q. I think within the last 24 hours you said, "There's a 65 in me." You were playing well. This was one of them; is there more to come?

PHIL MICKELSON: I'm hopeful that that's the case. I feel like it was evident to me that I was hitting a lot of good shots, that I was playing well; I wasn't getting the score out of it. Today was a great day for me to stay present and just keep hitting good shots. Even after I might have had a mess-up here or there, I was able to stay present, keep hitting good shots.

And I'm hopeful that this kind of catapults me into playing the rest of the year the way I believe I'm playing. I really worked hard in the off-season to get ready. I've been shooting some really low scores at home, and today I kind of let it happen rather than trying to force it, and I had a really good day and made some noise.

Unfortunately it wasn't enough, but it was really a lot of fun for me to play at this level again, and it's encouraging for me going forward the rest of the year.

Q. What did you learn about yourself this week? And just being back at Augusta National, a place that is special to you, how much did that help you get back in the groove?

PHIL MICKELSON: I think it's not so much what I learned, but I certainly have a lot of gratitude to be able to be here, be part of this tournament, play well, play good golf and take advantage of a unique opportunity that I have, which is to play golf at a very high level at a later stage in life, given that I have not had any physical injuries and I'm able to swing the club the way I want to and, with a little bit of work and dedication, to compete against some of the best players in the world on some of the biggest stages. That's really what's driving me, and today was a very encouraging day.

Q. You talked before about being super present and focused this week. I'm wondering why you haven't felt that way in a while and if you can pinpoint the last time you did?

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know, it's been a while since I've been able to focus the way I want to.

Obviously Kiawah was a good week, but consistently, week-in, week-out, day-in, day-out, and it's starting to come. A lot of it is just things that I need to do off the golf course, too, diet, exercise, so forth, to help with brain function and things like that.

But you know, additives in coffee is a big thing for me. Things I eat on the golf course are a big thing. All those things factor in. My brother did a great job on the bag this week. When my focus was kind of waning, he would tell me some stories, tell me some dad jokes and just kind of got me refocused and more present. And again, I think that's the biggest challenge for me lately because I feel like I'm executing a lot of shots, but I just need to be a little bit more present.

Q. Quickly, the clubs at 6 and 17, which were both particularly good shots.

PHIL MICKELSON: Thank you.

The shot on 6, I drove an 8-iron. I think it was with a downhill playing 169, we had a little bit of hurt, but I tried to hit what I call a flattening the apex of an 8-iron so it flies in flat. And it just drove in there and stuck a couple of feet, which is nice.

17, I ended up hitting a 7-iron, and just kind of held it a little bit in that left-to-right wind and let it fall to the right and it almost went in.

Those were good shots, thank you.

Q. How much of this week was institutional knowledge, how much of it was you finding something technically, and how much of it was you responding to this environment which you've always responded to?

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't think it was so much technical because I feel like I've actually been hitting shots like this for quite some time. But what was happening was a lot -- Thursday was the epitome of what happened. I hit a lot of great shots, had a chance to turn a 66, and I turned it into a 71 because I make two or three loose swings.

But technically, I've been playing and performing really well, but I would just have these few lapses. I think when you come here to Augusta, you end up having a sense of gratitude. It's hard not to, right? This is what we strive for. There's kind of a calm that comes over you; the fact that we get to play and compete in this Masters, and I think we've all been very appreciative of that.

I know after missing last year, to be here this year, it means a lot to me and it means a lot to me to be a part of this tournament going forward. I love everything about this because it's what I dreamed of as a kid to be a part of, and I've got so many great memories wrapped up here at Augusta.

Q. You and your brothers have been mentor to Jon. Did you see a Major Champion or a Masters Champion in him when you started talking to him first, and just tell us about what you thought of his performance over here.

PHIL MICKELSON: My brother, Tim, was his college coach for four years at Arizona State. First time I played with him we played Whisper Rock, and he shot 62. And I thought I played pretty good, and he gave me a pretty good beat-down.

So I am not surprised at his success. I mean, it was obvious to me at a very young age that he was one of the best players in the world even while he was in college. To see him on this stage is not surprising for anybody.

It's hard not to pull for Jon, too. He's such a good guy. He has such a great heart and treats people so well. I think the world of him as a person. And as a player, that's obvious, how good he is.

Q. With some of the blows over the last two years to your reputation and image, do you feel like this performance over these four days and the fans seeming to kind of warm to you a bit again, do you feel like this is a step forward to kind of restoring some of the damage, or whatever the right word is, of the last two years? And did you feel like you're --

PHIL MICKELSON: Separate. Separate. They are separate issues. Golf and the -- and the professional golf ecosystem and how that's been handled throughout my career, two totally separate things.

Q. One follow-up. Do you feel like kind of carrying the mantle for LIV, Brooks was up there and you got in contention, was there a little bit of competition with the other -- the guys from the other tour?

PHIL MICKELSON: Look, I wouldn't look at it like that. I'm very appreciative that we're here; that we are able to play in the majors. And I thought it was exciting that this tournament rose above it all to have the best players in the world here and lost all the pettiness; that was great.

I'm happy where I'm at. I wanted something different for a lot of reasons, and I'm getting a lot out of it because having a team environment when I was in high school and college golf, it elevated my game, having players to play with, compete with. It brought a great energy and excitement. And that's what this is doing for me at LIV. I'm not saying it's for everybody, but it's been awesome for me, and I love it.

I'm excited to go play in Australia, but I don't want to -- this shouldn't be -- this tournament isn't about what tour you play from. There's players from all over, all over the world on many different tours, and you're bringing the best players to play against each other in the majors.

And that's what it's all about. That's what the game of golf should be. There's always going to be and should always be a place for historical events like this, but it's okay to have a little bit of different and variety in the game of golf.

Q. How rejuvenated will you be for the event down in Adelaide, and what sort of reception do you think you'll get down there?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, we're excited to go down there. There's a lot of anticipation, and we're looking forward to that. At the end of this week, I'm going to meet with some of my teammates, and we're going to practice together before we head on a plane and get down there. I'm looking forward to that.

I feel like this is way great week to give me a boost, give me some confidence and give me some momentum to start playing and competing at a high level with my teammates. I'm really looking forward to that, too. Having a mixture of this style of golf, old, traditional historical majors, and then have something a little bit different, a different energy, vibe, it's been great for me. I love the variety.

Q. You've played the new 13th now four times. What's your view of it?

PHIL MICKELSON: I think it played kind of the way they wanted it to. I think it played the way they wanted it to. You know, we were hitting a lot longer shots in. Probably could extend the tee a little bit for days like yesterday when -- when it's wet and into the wind, and you would still have an option to maybe go for it, because I think just about everybody had to lay up.

But you don't really need to do anything different. I think it played the way it was intended.

Q. You don't sound as though you liked it, though.

PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not saying whether I like it or not. I think it's playing the way they intended it to play. I mean, I like going for that hole. I just couldn't reach it this morning when it was into the wind and wet, and I liked having a chance to kind of go for it. I think it's what makes that hole so exciting is that risk/reward opportunity, and when it's taken away, nobody really likes that.

But it was only taken away one of the four rounds, I thought, and so I thought it played pretty good. I mean, kind of the way they wanted it.

Q. Do you sort of rue the 75 at this point, or is it just that was the conditions were so difficult that -- you know, obviously your last nine holes were some of the toughest out there of the week.

PHIL MICKELSON: I mean, I can look back on this and look back on two or three swings that would have made all the difference at different stages in the tournament. This morning was one of those things, I just couldn't get it in the hole. I hit a great shot on the 13, had a 7-, 8-footer and didn't make it. And great shot on 16, six, seven feet and didn't make it.

Sometimes you get those moments where it's just not quite -- you're not quite connecting with the target and you're not quite getting the ball to go in or where you want it, and then it flips. Somehow you just kind of -- it flips like it did later today.

So I don't know what I could have done differently other than, you know, have the ball go a little bit more in the hole. I mean, I thought -- so I don't know what I would have done differently there. In the first round, there's some swings that I can identify and say, That really hurt.

Q. Did you feel any different coming down Magnolia Lane this year than years in the past?

PHIL MICKELSON: I would say it's the same. I get the same feeling every time I drive down, that same feeling of excitement and history and tradition, and everything that kind of goes through your mind when you're driving down Magnolia Lane and playing Augusta National.

And it doesn't matter if I'm playing in the tournament or playing in a practice round. I get the same feeling every time I come to this place. And I think we all sense what a spiritual place Augusta National is for those of us who love the game of golf.

Q. Are you going to play the PGA Championship?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yes.

Q. I'm from China; English is not my mother tongue. If I say something that might be offending, I hope you're going to --

PHIL MICKELSON: Did you go to Stanford, by any chance? You have that sweatshirt -- somebody gave you that sweatshirt?

Q. I'm not a pro media guy. It's on behalf of fans from China. We're just curious about, a couple months ago, there is a joke about -- from you, about a match, possible match between the PGA TOUR and the LIV guys like you, right. You said, "We're going to finish them right away." Is that a joke?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I was just trying to be funny.

Q. Thank you. And congratulations on this fabulous finish.

PHIL MICKELSON: Thank you.

Q. You're amazing out there.

PHIL MICKELSON: Thank you.

Q. Can you talk about the key to your longevity and staying injury-free?

PHIL MICKELSON: I would give a lot of credit to Sean Cochran who has been my trainer for 20 years. When we started work together, the idea was to elongate my career rather than bulk up and try to hit it farther. We've added a physical therapist with Geno Senko, and I've been working on maintaining flexibility and all that stuff.

When I turned 40 and got psoriatic arthritis, I had to change my diet and become accountable for my overall health and wellness. That's where the whole coffee thing started. I had never drank coffee until then and didn't realize what a great way of antioxidants intake that is and all of that stuff.

So I had to be much more accountable to my overall health and wellness off the golf course as well as maintaining strength and flexibility. So it's been a combination of those things, but the mindset in fitness and training is not to bulk up and great big muscles, but it's to create elasticity and flexibility.

THE MODERATOR: With a 31 on the second nine and a 65 today, it was certainly working.

PHIL MICKELSON: Thanks, guys. Have a good day. Happy Easter.