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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 4, 2006

Phil Mickelson

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

RONALD TOWNSEND: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We're delighted to have Phil Mickelson here. Phil is the winner of the 2004 Masters, as you know. This is his 14th Masters. He's finished Top 10 nine times in 13 appearances and three third place showings, three consecutive years: 2001, 2002, 2003. Phil had an outstanding 2005 campaign, capturing his second major title with the PGA Championship and his outstanding performance last week capped his 28th victory with a 28 under par.

PHIL MICKELSON: You're not going to mention '04, huh? You got '01, '02, '03 and '05.

RONALD TOWNSEND: I started with that. Let me say it again, 2004 Masters champion, Phil Mickelson (laughter).

PHIL MICKELSON: I love playing here and I love playing this tournament. I had a great day today to go out and see the golf course and play it. It's going to be very difficult. It's going to be a very tough test of golf now with the changes making it even more difficult. It's a very challenging golf course now.

Q. Did you have anything left after what you did over in Duluth at Sugarloaf? You really laid it out there. Have you got something left for us this week?

PHIL MICKELSON: You're making this sound like that was the apex. The way I look at it is I was trying to get my game sharp for this week and I think it's fairly sharp now.

Q. The idea of two drivers in the bag, when did that come up? Are you just like out somewhere?

PHIL MICKELSON: It's a big promo Callaway and I are doing now (laughter). The only thing better than an FT 3 is two FT 3s.

When I play Monday and Tuesday, and saw that a lot of holes you could move the ball left to right. I had played the course exclusively with a fade and there are a number of holes where you can move the ball left to right and have it be very effective. I have a driver that I have been working with Callaway on getting some extra pop, and this thing goes, it really goes. It's the driver I flew on the green on 13 at BellSouth where it trickled down there a few feet. I have not ever been able to fly it on that surface. It's 300 yards uphill and it flew 315 uphill. I don't have that pop. But on this golf course, I could sure use that extra pop.

But there are holes like No. 7, you have to have control of your ball, same on 10 and 13, you have to control that fade. So that's where I came up with the two driver concept. I can hit a little controlled cut on the holes where distance isn't as big of a factor, like No. 7, like No. 10 and I can use that draw driver and get a little extra pop on some holes. Maybe No. 8 I might be able to go for now in two and some of the other par 5s, I can move it 15 left to right and get it down there. It's nice having that little extra punch.

Q. Some people have said that they would rather have the sand wedge in their bag for around the greens.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I have an L wedge for that, and I'm taking out my sand wedge because quite honestly it doesn't matter how far I hit it. I'm not going to ever get it to where I hit a sand wedge into some of these holes; the course is so long. That's a club I've played a number of practice rounds with, never needed it. Never needed it in today's round. If it's a par 5 and I get close enough, L wedge is plenty of club to reach for my third shot and there's just no par 4s anymore that I can get close with a sand wedge.

Q. Just to confirm your wedge, you have pitching wedge and L wedge?

PHIL MICKELSON: And a gap wedge, yeah. So I still need to take out another club. I'm not sure which one that other club will be. 3 iron, 4 iron, it could be somewhere in the middle, it could be a 7 or 8. I just don't know what club that is yet. It will probably depend on whether it's wet or dry conditions.

Q. The year you won here, if you recall, is it true that you had no iron longer than a 5 iron or a 4 iron in your bag that year?

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't recall that being the case, Jerry. I don't think I had a 3 iron. That might be that might be possible. I may have taken my 3 iron out. But now with the addition of length on 15, the addition on 4, those holes are most likely a 3 or 4 iron, so I'll probably try to keep those long irons in. I'm not sure now which club I'll take out.

Q. After blowing away the field last week like you did, how confident are you coming in this week?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, a lot more confident than had I missed the cut (laughter).

But I don't think the prior week's performance has had an effect on a players' performance in the majors. We've seen this guy win a tournament while missing the cut the week before. We've seen, although rarely, guys win the week before and then come over and win this tournament. But it was important for me to play well at the BellSouth because I had been playing well, but I had not been getting the scores out that I wanted, and it finally came together to where I started to score, also. I just want to carry that momentum, as the game plan was to take that momentum and bring it over here.

Q. Just back to the two driver thing. When did that first come into your mind, and was it all in preparation for this week?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I had been working in the off season to get this longer driver in play. We got it dialed in to where I could hit just a very long draw. But all of the little finesse shots like carving it around the trees on 13 and so forth, the club wasn't designed for that and just wasn't doing it.

So I used the internal weighting of the driver to take the left side out of play so it draws and I use the other driver to internal weight and take the right side out of play, so now I just play with half the trouble.

Q. Was it all geared towards this week, using it obviously here?

PHIL MICKELSON: Essentially. But I was trying to get it worked out so I only use one driver, but as it turned out, I'm going it end up using two.

Q. What are your thoughts on the changes this week?

PHIL MICKELSON: I think it's a lot harder. I think the course is going to play a full shot harder each round. Because 7 used to be a birdie hole and now it's one of the tougher pars. I think that's at least a half a shot, maybe 6/10ths of a shot harder a day. I think 11 is a another half a shot more difficult now that the trees were added on right and we're forced to go further left. The fairway is very tight now.

It's very visually difficult to play 11 because the whole dog leg right and the fairway angles hard left, so visually it's hard to get a feel for that hole. Because usually the ground turns with the dog leg and there it's the opposite. That's a tough one to get used to.

Q. Besides the internal weighting, what are the specs going into two drivers?

PHIL MICKELSON: The draw is an inch longer. That's pretty much the only other difference.

Q. And the longer one is the one you tried earlier in the season, right?

PHIL MICKELSON: That was a different one. That was 47 inch. This is only one inch longer.

Q. How does your course management differ for a major compared to a regular PGA TOUR event? What are the differences in that regard?

PHIL MICKELSON: I think a lot of times, not all of the time, but a lot of times on TOUR, you can short side yourself or miss the ball in a 360 degree area around the pin and still have a chance to get up and down. Here you really only have 180 degrees or half of the hole; you have to be one side of the pin or the other to have a chance to get up and down. Although we try to get close to the pin, we want to make sure that we miss on the proper side. So you're playing more to your misses than you do to hit perfect shots.

Q. I'm sure you know what Tiger's been going through with his dad being ill, just if you have any sense that it must be difficult or how he still does things on the course despite that; what's your sense from afar?

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know the state of Tiger's father's health, but he's meant a lot to the game of golf and we all are pulling for him. We all want him to do better and recover. I don't know, again, what his status is, but it's never easy when you have a parent whose not doing well no matter who you are. There's a lot of guys out here on TOUR that are going through personal problems, too. It's almost a reprieve to have those four or five hours to yourself to go play golf knowing that you have to redirect your thoughts to playing each shot. It affects you more off the course, I think.

Q. With the golf course being dry, is it harder than throw out the changes, which I know it's harder

PHIL MICKELSON: When it's dry, it's harder, yeah firmer

Q. I don't mean firmer, I mean more difficult.

PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, I've got you. Not fun when those words are twisted a little bit, is it? (Laughter) Just kidding, just kidding.

Q. Just remember, I can get even.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yes, you can, the power of the pen, you can get even.

You're looking mighty handsome today. Losing some weight, too (laughter).

I think it plays more difficult when it's firm, but obviously it plays a lot shorter and the length of the course isn't as big of a factor when it is hard, but you can't get close to many of the pins when the greens get firm. So the biggest challenge to the course is when the greens get firm.

It's supposed to rain Saturday and Sunday. It will play a lot longer, obviously. But if the greens are softer, the scores will not go up. They may even come down a little bit. Even though it plays longer, if the greens are more receptive, we'll be able to make more birdies.

Q. One major gets you in the club, two majors sets you apart; what would back to back majors be, basically, since this is the first major of the year, what would that mean to you and have you thought about that?

PHIL MICKELSON: No, Melanie, I don't want to look ahead. Right now I'm enjoying the process or the challenge of trying to get my game sharp for this tournament. That's the last thing I'm thinking about is Sunday. I'm still thinking about the first tee shot on Thursday and get my game ready for that.

It was a nice preparation, nice week last week and a big confidence booster to start playing well. This is a whole set of different challenges. I cannot fire at pins here at Augusta like I was able to at BellSouth. I've got to play a whole different style of game, if you will, or just smarter, and I'm going have a lot longer putts, obviously. I'm not going to be having the three to five footers that I was having. I'll have more 60 footers. So lag putting is an area I'll spend a lot of time trying to get sharp. But I've not thought about results yet.

Q. Do you have more confidence, I mean, can you put any value on now that you have two majors? Coming how you walk into a major now?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I walk into the press room a lot differently having two majors. It's a lot better, absolutely.

But entering the tournament, it's not so much that I've won. It's that I've found a way to prepare for the tournaments to help get my best game out. And that's what each one of us tries to do as players, and it's different for everybody. We're all individuals and we all have different ways to prepare and different ways to play our best. And so now that I feel like after two wins and after some good performances, especially in 2004 in the majors, I feel like I've found a way to prepare to bring my best game out, hopefully every time.

Q. Kind of following up to her question, when you are playing golf and you have some personal thing going on, be it the birth of a child or more personal problems, how easy is it in practice though to not think about it or how often do you catch yourself, your mind wandering?

PHIL MICKELSON: I think that oftentimes in between shots, your mind will wander. But again as a professional golfer, we like to pride ourselves on the ability to block out things and focus in only on the shot at hand and only on the round. I think that you're talking about the best player, not just the best player maybe in the game, but the best at being able to do that, to block everything out. I don't think that it will be a factor in Tiger's game at all.

Q. You had mentioned with no sand wedge in the bag, is there anything that you and Dave Pelz may have been working on in terms of your short game trying to prepare knowing that you don't have that club in the bag, and can you talk about anything specific? We've talked a lot about changes in terms of lengthening but changes you've noticed around green complexes being different?

PHIL MICKELSON: I still held my L wedge, the club that I chip with most. For me personally I'm not able to chip around these greens. I'm usually okay but the grass is too tight and the grain is in and every time I bring in an L wedge, I fluff it, so I just putt it and that seems to work best for me.

Q. Can you talk about the refinement process of your preparations, how that all came about?

PHIL MICKELSON: Trial and error. Yeah, it's been just trial and error for 12, 13 years and I found that by coming in early and mapping out the course and working out the shot I've prepared for the tournament. For example, I knew I was going to play two drivers this week so I played BellSouth with two drivers. Probably didn't need to, but I did because I wanted to feel comfortable going from club to club and knowing I was able to hit the fairway with each driver and not have it affect my swing.

Q. When you won you told us how much you were looking forward to being part of traditions around here. What were the biggest imperfections you took from the Champions Dinner last year?

PHIL MICKELSON: Being able to hang out with the guys who have won here is what's an amazing feeling. When you walk down the fairways at Augusta, it's unlike any other tournament for us as a player. It's a different feeling. You have people taking pictures of you and you feel like you're almost an artifact in a museum, if you will.

When I attend the Champions Dinner and get to relive and rehash some of the victories of some other past champions, I feel as though there's that sense of history, and being a part of the tournament, which is so special.

The other thing where I really notice is being able to come back here and play on non tournament weeks when there's nobody out here, and to come here and sit in the champions locker room and have breakfast. That's some of the most fun that I've had in the game, just sitting on the premises looking at pictures of the club and being on site, knowing that I've won this tournament.

Q. Please excuse the triviality of the question, I notice your hair is getting long; are you in a gussier, Adam Scott mood at the moment?

PHIL MICKELSON: No, Amy likes it. And quite honest, you may have an negative opinion towards it, but as long as she likes it, it's all good (laughter).

Q. I hate to get back to the mundane here, but you said you mapped out. Have you mapped out which driver and which hook drivers you'll use and will it change according to the conditions?

PHIL MICKELSON: For the most part. Probably 11 or 12s have been decided but one or two could carry. 14, I could go either way with a cut or a draw and I could take that draw driver over the tree if I want and get it down there or I may cut it. If it's dry I'll probably cut it. There's two or three drivers that I'm still

Q. What's the count as of right now?

PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, how many for each? I'm not sure. Almost 50/50.

Q. Competitive rivalries being good for sport, promise this is not to dredge up what occurred last year, just with the spikes, the brief exchange with Vijay, but can you see from a spectator or fan standpoint how sometimes those rivalries become a little bit contentious, how that adds spice and if that's ever a good thing for sport to have?

PHIL MICKELSON: I think it's good for sports, absolutely. Rivalries like Arizona State and Arizona where I went to school or Texas/Oklahoma football, I think it's great, great for sports.

Golf usually doesn't have too much of that because as individuals and the way the game is played, because it's not such a head to head competition like tennis where it's match play; it's more yourself against the course. We don't have that very often.

Q. One more question about the drivers, do you have different head covers for them and what do you say, give me the long one, give me the short one?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I haven't named them, but that's a cute idea (laughter).

And I don't have different head covers for them, no. I just wrote on one, you know, draw, one fade, so I know looking at them which one is which.

Q. You've talked in the past about the art part of the game and the technology part of the game. I wonder how you felt this impacted on that, with two drivers rather than having to necessarily shape shots and if technology in this instance was replacing some of the art?

PHIL MICKELSON: Replacing some of the what?

Q. Some of the art in golf and shaping shots.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, since as long as I can remember, we have utilized shafts to help draw or fade. Usually a different shaft promotes a fade and a weaker one a hook. We've used lead tape on the heel of the toe to fade it. We've used length of shaft or lie of the club, more upright club, having the toe stick in the air will cause a hook; having it sit flat will cause a fade. We've used technology from the beginning to differentiate shots. That's all I'm doing is just heel weighting one for a draw and toe weighting for the other, no different than we've done in the past, only my stuff is a little bit more precise than it has been in the past. But arbitrarily throwing weight here or there or adding overall weight with the composite bodies and the software, we can be very precise to the thousandth of an inch, center of gravity and stuff like that.

Q. Obviously this course, putting is very, very important. Goosen was just in here just awhile ago talking about how he's a lot better at fast surfaces

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, he's one of the best ever.

Q. That's kind of strange, a lot of people don't think that would be the case for anybody putting, but for him, from what you've seen, what do you think?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I saw enough of his fast green putting in 2004 at Shinnecock, thanks for bringing that up, thank you (laughter).

I use Retief as an example of what a fast green putter should be. He's got one of the best touches that I've ever seen on fast greens. I don't know why that is, what technically he does that's different. I know that he did not enjoy having the greens being slightly slower last week at BellSouth. I didn't mind it but he didn't care for it too much. He putts greens like this at Augusta like the U.S. Open, better than just about anybody I've ever seen.

Q. Do you agree with the premise that the changes in the course have cut down the number of people that are doing to win?

PHIL MICKELSON: No.

Q. Why not?

PHIL MICKELSON: Because longer hitters that are still hitting longer shots in are not able to get it to the small sections so we're now playing for par just like everybody else.

Q. Again on the drivers, who first voiced the suggestion to go with two drivers?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I had lunch a year or two ago at Colonial at Papacitas with Jerry Potter and Jerry threw out the notion that we might want to have I ever explored that option. (Laughter) So I thought about it and here we are. Thank you, Jerry.

Q. Pleased to help.

RONALD TOWNSEND: Other questions?

PHIL MICKELSON: I think he wants a serious answer. No, it was just something that came about. I was trying to get one driver to work and I found that two is going to work well.

Q. When you mentioned it to Rick, what was his reaction?

PHIL MICKELSON: Nice idea. I don't know. Okay, you know (laughter).

Q. After this week, how often can you envision

PHIL MICKELSON: Not often. No, not often. Length is usually not as big a factor on any other golf course like it is at Augusta. To have a driver that gives me an extra 25 yards pop, you know, if I can keep it in play, which I've been successful last week and in the practice rounds, it's going to be a club that can be a real asset.

But there are a lot of courses that we pinch the fairways on TOUR, we let the rough grow up, we angle the fairways and make them hard so balls release through the rough. I just wouldn't have really a chance to use it that much.

Q. There was a lot made last year of playing that sort of controlled fade at Baltusrol. How much did you play it or implement it in 2004 here, and is the shape of your shots different this year, as opposed to two years ago?

PHIL MICKELSON: No. When I won at Baltusrol last year, all I hit was fades, just exclusive fades and that's all I've been hitting for the most part. The only time I can draw it is with this other club because it's designed to draw and I don't have to change my winning to do that. If I just make the same swing with any other club in my bag it produces a fade.

Q. Is the number of draws off the tee the same?

PHIL MICKELSON: There's a couple of holes it doesn't matter which way you move it, doesn't matter which way you move it on 7 or 5, or 2. 8, it doesn't matter. 17 doesn't matter. And so those holes, I'll probably be 50/50 draw to fade. The holes that are obvious that you have to move it left to right on 15, you have to move it left to right on 11 if you want to hold that fairway. And so I'll use the draw driver for sure on those. The other holes are going to be arbitrary. 10 and 13 obviously are going to be cut.

RONALD TOWNSEND: Thank you, Phil Mickelson, 2004 Masters champion.

End of FastScripts.

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