LIV GOLF BEDMINSTER

August 9, 2023

Phil Mickelson

James Piot

Brendan Steele

Cameron Tringale

Trump National Golf Club

HyFlyers GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: I'm going to ask you guys a couple questions about today. James, I'll start with you. Tell us about what you guys did out here today and what it means to you to take some time out of playing golf to work and give back.

JAMES PIOT: Yeah, I mean, today we were working with adaptive junior golfers, and I thought it was one of the coolest experiences to be able to give back.

I love working with kids in a golf format. I think it's so cool, just the energy they have and how excited they were to be out here.

I mean, Phil couldn't even stop for more than five minutes, keep on going on a chipping class and stuff like that, and he just kept on going. It was cool to see all the guys super involved with it. I had a blast. Some of the kids beat me in a little putting competition there, so I got humbled fast, but it was a blast.

Q. Phil, we spent a lot of time today talking about the kids and their superpowers. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

PHIL MICKELSON: Our big thing in our team is identifying what everybody's superpower is, on the course, off the course, and talking to these young kids about what their superpowers are was really special.

To hear a couple of them were mathematicians, one of them was a painter, one of them was just being a great friend, and identifying what it is that you're really good at is really a great strength, and knowing that, it builds self-esteem. Also identifying the things we struggle with and trying to improve on those areas of our life, as well. We do that on and off the course. We identify what we're good at on the golf course, and we work on our weaknesses and try to turn them into strengths.

It's introducing the game of golf to young kids like that, and helping them identify things that they're really good at, that's really a special thing for us, and it was a fun day.

Q. Brendan and Camo, for you guys both, you guys are part of Team HyFlyers, kind of first time being part of a golf team in your professional career, and then having the opportunity and the platform to come out and do something like this as a team, can you speak to that a little bit?

BRENDAN STEELE: Yeah, I love being part of this team, specifically these guys are just so fun to be around and so to be able to help each other and try to grow and move forward and reach another level.

It's fun for us to then do this together. I think anytime you can do things together, you bring more energy and better energy and you can collaborate, and that's something that I've always missed as a pro and that I loved when I was playing high school golf and college golf. I loved the collaboration and helping each other, so being able to do that today with the kids was really cool.

Q. Camo?

CAMERON TRINGALE: I would echo that, just the joy that we have to play for this team. But as it relates to today, just I think our team, it's really important for us to be a leader and giving back and trying to advance the game and even do something like this with the kids today, I think for our team identity is really a step in the right direction for things we want to do more of.

Q. Phil, want to get your quick thoughts on Mr. 58, on Bryson DeChambeau and his incredible not only round but two rounds over the weekend and get your thoughts on it.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it was awesome for the tournament, for him, for LIV, for everyone involved because that's a Tour-caliber golf course, and he shot a 58 and a 61 on that course is just incredible.

But to see him play well is also just great for the game of golf, whether it's for LIV, PGA TOUR. Seeing him be at his best, he's an exciting, charismatic figure in the game, and having him play well is good for everyone.

Q. Phil, you guys played the match on Wednesday, so you were basically the inspiration for 61-58?

PHIL MICKELSON: Camo was kind of getting in his ear, getting in his head.

CAMERON TRINGALE: That's me, Mr. Chirpy.

PHIL MICKELSON: He's our silent assassin. He doesn't say much, he just delivers. He birdied the last three holes to put a nice exclamation point.

But we had a good time, and I thought that was a really cool thing that we were able to do. We wouldn't be able to do that outside of LIV, and to bring fans into a more personal experience of a practice round, kind of gamesmanship, a fun little match, things like that I thought was really cool.

Bryson is ahead of the game. Bryson is on top of that. That was his team. They put that thing together. They shot the video. They edited it, and he has a great grasp of how to bring the game to a lot of people and bring parts of the game that aren't normally seen, and I thought that was kind of like a behind-the-scenes match that isn't normally seen, and I'm appreciative that we're able to do that here on LIV.

Q. I wanted to ask you about your friendship with Dave who is here today. How much does that mean to you and Amy and your family?

PHIL MICKELSON: So it's one of my favorite things about playing professional golf and being in the position that we're in, which is to have an impact or to provide a special moment for others. Like these young adaptive golfers, just giving them some time and a moment that they might remember, we're in a position to do that that not everybody is.

It's fun for us to do that. It could be just little giving a golf ball to someone, or it could be helping them through their game or being a good friend to them.

But David Finn, back in 2005 when I won Baltusrol, was out there and supportive, and I could tell he was a huge golf fan. We hit it off and became close, and I had him on the green celebrating the victory with the trophy.

He is golf's biggest fan he knows more about the pros. He has relationships with so many PGA TOUR and LIV Tour pros that he's golf's biggest fan, and he's so knowledgeable about everybody that he's become a very special part of the game of golf.

Q. You've got the 4 Aces at the top, you've got Torque with four wins this season. Who do you consider the team to beat? They've kind of separated themselves from everybody else. Or is it still everybody still has a shot going into Miami?

BRENDAN STEELE: Obviously Torque and the Aces have played great, Stingers played great this year. There's some really solid teams out there.

I feel like for us, match play is going to provide a unique chance for us to go a little bit more one-on-one and to kind of set up our pairings the way that we want to and maybe give us a different kind of advantage that we haven't seen through the stroke play all year.

But I also think that we are trending the way that we want. We had our best week last week, our most complete week, most complete performance as a team, and I think any given week, we can pop up and win, and that's definitely our goal. We definitely want to win one of these last couple stroke play events and then get see if we can hot in the match play, as well.

Q. Are you tired of seeing Torque's name up there?

JAMES PIOT: They're a good team. I think we're a great team. Obviously you're trying to bait me a little with this question. I really like our team and the thing in golf, right, we can only control ourselves. So I think we're all working hard trying to do what we need to do to put those tournaments together, the three consecutive rounds as a team, to really be up there.

I have great faith in these three men --

PHIL MICKELSON: We're trending. We're trending as a team. Last week Piot and I started to play a little bit better. Cam was counted every round. Steeley and Camo have played some really good golf consistently throughout the year, and James and I are starting to come along and give them some support, and I think we were a shot out of the podium, and I think that we're building. Like we're getting better each week.

I have really high expectations for this team this week here at Bedminster because we're all starting to play some really good golf.

Q. Do you guys smack talk?

JAMES PIOT: Smack talk? No. If you notice anything, it seems like Camo has only gotten bigger and bigger physically throughout the year from carrying me and Phil most of the year. That's really what I've noticed. Especially me. I'll take Phil out of that.

Q. Going back to Bryson, he's obviously played well, not just this past week but he's been playing well in the majors. When you look at the Ryder Cup coming up, he's obviously not going to have a chance to be in that top 6. I'm curious what your opinion is as somebody who's been such a huge part of the Ryder Cup? Obviously Brooks is going to be there. Can you imagine the Ryder Cup without Bryson, the way he's playing right now?

PHIL MICKELSON: That's a tough question to answer because there's some players here on LIV that have played some golf that I would argue is some of the best in the world. Bryson, his last week is one of the best performances in the game.

I think Talor Gooch is one of the best performances of the year, and Brooks is one of the toughest competitors, and then you always want to throw DJ or Patrick Reed in there because of their consistency. They've Aces to a number of victories. You've got four or five guys here that you can make an argument are some of the best American players for sure.

But you also have, as we know, a team dynamic is very important, and as we've created a dynamic here of support where we're helping each other be our best, you want to have that same dynamic for the Ryder Cup to bring out the best in each other.

It's also understandable if that's not the case, if as a captain you decide to go with a team that brings about a certain chemistry, but if you're looking just straight for the best players, there's four or five guys here that warrant that.

Q. Do you have a level of curiosity, and what is your level of curiosity to see how it is going to unfold and see how many LIV guys Zach does bring over, if anybody beyond Brooks?

PHIL MICKELSON: So I've kind of detached from that a little bit. I've accepted the fact that I've had 12 or 13 years of great Ryder Cup experiences, 12 as a player, one as a vice captain. I've enjoyed my time. But I've detached and kind of let it go and let others take others as players as captains, and kind of let myself be a fan watching now.

Q. Phil, just to get back to Bryson for a second, he seems like he's really making a strong case to be on that Ryder Cup team. If he were to get a wild card, what would he bring to the team that maybe we didn't see in the previous two that he played?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, he brings an element of experience and intellectual perspective that is sometimes different and unique that can be very additive as well as an incredible golf game and a very tough competitor.

I can say that about Brooks, and I can say that about Talor Gooch and I can say that about DJ, especially after his last Ryder Cup, the way he played at Whistling Straits going 5-0, and I can say that about Patrick Reed and the history he's had in that event.

There's a lot of guys that would be very additive to the U.S. Team, but again, as a captain, you're looking at other intangibles, too.

Like I say, I don't want to get involved, and I don't want to step on Zach's toes and tell him what he should or shouldn't do. He's captain, and he's got to be the one making the decisions on what he thinks is best for the U.S. Team.

Q. Next year I'm hearing some things that the schedule might be slightly more international. If that is the case, would you welcome that, that LIV becomes more of a world tour than it was the past two seasons?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I think that's going to be an obvious fit because LIV has really taken over international golf, and the U.S. has always been taken over by the PGA TOUR.

But there are two things -- well, there are things about LIV that the PGA TOUR don't have, and one of them is control over a player's schedule, which we have all given up in a sense because we've been justly compensated, and the ability to move highest level professional golf throughout the world is going to be a very positive thing.

There's been increased demand every day, so there are multiple countries that are wanting us to come play. They like knowing what they're getting. They like to know who's going to be coming. It makes it easier for them to sell to the sponsors and to the fans.

As we continue to go global, I feel like we're doing a good thing for the game of golf by bringing golf global. Sometimes we give a little bit myopic view here in the U.S., like the only thing that matters is U.S. golf, and the fact is the greatest growth opportunities -- I think there's a hundred million golfers worldwide, and 61 million or more are outside the United States, and we're able to bring the best level golf to many of those places.

Q. We've been kind of -- the big framework agreement thing has been kind of floating out in the ether, in the cloud someplace. I know that you're a ways back, a year and a half or so back, one of your proposals or suggestions to the Tour was to bring some team element into it. I'm curious, with however this framework agreement is going to unfold, which obviously you guys don't know and we don't know, Monahan doesn't know, whatever, do you see eventually there being a team element and when you guys all -- what will be potentially your teams being part of a Tour that includes LIV and the PGA TOUR? Is that something that you think should happen?

PHIL MICKELSON: I think there's two areas of professional golf that as you know I worked hard on, and it wasn't going to happen until LIV, which was a team aspect and elevated events, because the fans need to see the best players play against each other more often, and until elevated events came, the top players weren't playing in the same events. They were broken up.

The team aspect brings a whole different way to identify to a younger crowd, and I think the team aspect is a big reason why the demographic for LIV Golf is about half that of the PGA TOUR, and I think that's going to be crucial to the long-term support of the game of golf.

As you know, I worked very hard on both of those prior, and it was made very clear that that was not going to come about unless -- because it was believed to be that LIV wasn't going to happen.

Now that it has happened, those changes have been made, but LIV is leading the way in that area because we have the ability to guarantee who's going to be there and move this throughout the world as well as the team aspect.

Q. What's your reaction been when you've seen how it's unfolded, because really it's unfolded the way it was proposed to some degree in the first place to Jay and whatnot, and as you've seen the Tour react to the success of LIV, what's been your reaction to that, since you were in the belly of the beast from the start here?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, so prior to this, Jay and I had four three- or four-hour meetings, and all the notes I look back on I'd say 85 or 90 percent of them are happening, and I think that's really cool, and I'm happy for the PGA TOUR. I wish them all the best.

Q. Do you find yourself shaking your head at all?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I mean, I chuckle. I certainly am chuckling, yes.