NEC WORLD SERIES OF GOLF

August 24, 1997

Phil Mickelson

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, obviously, you guys have a great winner, Greg Norman. He played right in front of me, and he made a number of birdies - all of which I saw. And, it was a disappointing day for me because I felt like I played really well and I just couldn't get -- couldn't make a birdie. Didn't make one birdie all day, and yet I hit a number of greens. It was disappointing. But, again, you know, you guys have -- I don't feel like I lost the tournament. I just didn't go out and win it. And, Greg did. So, that was that.

PHIL MICKELSON: Not really, because the golf course is susceptible to birdies because the greens are soft and they are rolling a lot better with the rain than they would be rolling without. And because of that, there are lot of birdies to be made, I thought. You could fly any club right at the pin; the ball would stick. And, it was easy to chip. So, it was okay to be aggressive because if you did miss the green, you could get it up-and-down, so I wasn't surprised to see that many birdies. Obviously, the course was playing difficult. We didn't see that many scores under par or that many low scores, probably, because it was playing so long. If you did miss a fairway, the rough was so long and wet that you just couldn't get the ball on the green or anywhere near it.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I would rather play -- I think it is easier to score in this than it is, you know, in dry, windy conditions. I don't mind this at all. In fact, I used to go out in the rain all the time because nobody would be on the golf course when it was raining and I would have the whole course to myself. So, I enjoy -- you know, I enjoy playing in this type of weather. And it is a nice change to what we have seen the entire summer, it has been so hot.

PHIL MICKELSON: Only one place to look at that and that is the putting because I hit just about every green and it is not like they were that long putts either. They were a lot of between 10- and 30-footers and with the greens as they are, I expect to make them. Yesterday, I did, the back 9 I did. Today, I just didn't.

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't, no.

PHIL MICKELSON: My ball was just on an umbrella. My question was do I place it or drop it nearest the spot.

PHIL MICKELSON: Okay?

PHIL MICKELSON: Have a good evening.