LIV GOLF BEDMINSTER

August 12, 2023

Phil Mickelson

Trump National Golf Club

HyFlyers GC

Quick Quotes

Q. How excited are you at that prospect?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I'm having a lot of fun. I love playing in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. The people have been great to me here, and I feel good hitting some good shots and shooting some good scores. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and it's going to be a fun day.

Q. Six major championships, 45 PGA TOUR wins. Will you still be nervous tomorrow?

PHIL MICKELSON: I'm sure. I'm sure there's an element. I haven't won since the PGA in '21, so it's been a couple years, and I would love getting back into that feeling of having a chance to win and having each shot bring that pressure about.

Sure, I'll feel it. That's why we still want to play or I still want to play because I love that challenge of trying to compete and trying to do that, and I still get nervous every time I have a chance.

Q. What's the team talk going to be like tonight?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, with three scores counting and we're only five shots back or so, this is an exciting time for us, too. We've come really close. Last week we were a shot out of the podium. We haven't been on the podium in the top 3 yet this year, and we're making progress as the year has progressed, so tomorrow is a good chance for us to play a good final round.

We've led a couple of events and we've faltered on the final day, and we've been building this year. I think tomorrow is going to be a strong day for our team.

Q. This is obviously the best position you've been in at a LIV event. What kind of thoughts or emotions are going through your mind right now?

PHIL MICKELSON: It's a lot of fun. I've been working hard, and I have not had results, and I'm finally scoring a little bit better, and it's fun to have a chance tomorrow. It's fun for our team to have a chance.

I mean, this is why I've been working hard is to try to get these opportunities to be in contention on Sunday and try to close it out, try to get our team up on the podium, myself up on the podium. It's really fun and exciting. It's been a fun first couple days.

Q. You showed at Augusta obviously you can still play. Why do you think it's happening for you this week and the Flyers? You talked about earlier in the week you thought you guys were trending. Why this week do you think?

PHIL MICKELSON: We are. It's the little things. It's the little shots that I've been kind of -- I used to not throw away around the greens. My short game is starting to come around. I'm starting to save some shots to keep the round going. I'm starting to drive the ball quite a bit straighter and in play.

The game is getting easier, but you have to put it all together to score. I've hit a lot of good iron shots, too, and have had a lot of good opportunities to make some putts and birdies.

The game is starting to feel easy again.

Q. Obviously you've been defying age for the last few years. What would it mean to win a LIV event at 53?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it would mean a lot to me to win one of these events. I am really trying hard. That's a strong goal of mine. I'm working really hard to do it.

This is a great stepping-stone for me to build on and to have that opportunity tomorrow, and we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

This has been a lot of fun.

Q. You played with Cam today; obviously you've got a teammate kind of riding shotgun with you. How nice was it to have him on board today?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I really enjoy playing with him, and he had an incredible off-season. His game has been so solid. He's played incredible golf for us. To be able to play with him, we kind of help each other, kind of feed off each other. He's so good that his energy, we kind of just lift each other.

We didn't finish the round off today the way we wanted to, neither of us, but we're playing well, and we're looking forward to tomorrow's opportunity.

Q. You've always gotten great support here in this New York area. How has it been for you the first two rounds? I assume about the same?

PHIL MICKELSON: The people here have been terrific. Loud and supportive. It's been a lot of fun.

I'm looking for hopefully more tomorrow.