MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 12, 2024

Phil Mickelson

Quick Quotes

Q. You've played out here so many years. How would you describe the conditions this week in terms of the wind?

PHIL MICKELSON: It's challenging. We're going to have a nice weekend, though. If you can fight hard and kind of stay in it -- I turned it even, and for the tournament I thought, if I could get around and even on the back, I'd be right in a good position to make a movement.

But that back nine is brutal. When you don't have any birdie holes, you can't reach 13 and 15. They go from birdie holes to really tough pars. It's hard to really get any momentum and fight. I kept trying to get up-and-down and salvage pars. I did a good job for a while, but it's really tough. I mean, it's tough.

This weekend is going to be nice. Hopefully there will be some opportunities to make a run.

Q. How much do you channel what you did last year, especially in the final round, in terms of like I've still got a chance, I can really make a big move?

PHIL MICKELSON: I'm quite a bit back from where I wanted to be or where I thought I could be. I thought I could be right around par and be in a good spot. I'm not really worrying about that. I'm just going to go out -- I've played some good rounds here. I'm just going to try to play a good solid round and see what the course gives.

There were a lot of birdie pins that were used today in conditions that you're just fighting for par every hole. So I don't know how many opportunities we're going to have this weekend. With nicer weather, we should have some.

Q. As you're walking around here, how much of an opportunity do you take just to enjoy being out here? I know you've got the competitive mode going.

PHIL MICKELSON: I think we'll be able to enjoy it a little bit more this weekend when it's nicer and not such a struggle. Today was really just fighting hard for pars, as many as you can make, and this weekend should be fun.

Q. Is it against your nature that you have to be more conservative out here today because of the wind?

PHIL MICKELSON: It doesn't change where you can hit it, where you can miss it. It just makes the shots a little bit harder. There really weren't any great birdie opportunities. So it was hard to really make up ground, like it was hard to think, get a couple back. You needed to make a really long putt after a couple of great shots. So it was hard to get some momentum.

I don't know, this weekend will be good.

Q. You've been here 31 years. Have you ever seen wind like this at this place?

PHIL MICKELSON: I have. I think it was the year -- it might have been '07, the year that Zach won. There's been a couple of really tough wind days. Like I say, if you fought hard and kind of stayed in it, this weekend should be nice and give you some opportunities to make a move.

Q. Shoot a 65?

PHIL MICKELSON: You never know.