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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 19, 2006

Phil Mickelson

MEDINAH, ILLINOIS

Q. You got off to the start you needed.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I got off to a good start and hit a lot of good shots today. I didn't make very many putts, but I hit a lot of good shots and gave myself a chance for a really low round, it just wasn't quite there. I'm still really low round away, and if I can just shoot it tomorrow, 7 , 8 , 9 under par, I should have a chance. But it's going to take a really low round coming from as far back as I am.

Q. You said you watched video of the first two rounds.

PHIL MICKELSON: I did. Rick and I spent an hour, hour and a half last night going over video from when I was playing well and when I struggled this week, and we noticed a couple of glaring differences. I was able to get it ironed out today. I hit a lot of good shots; unfortunately I just didn't get the putts to go after those shots.

Q. What's the difference between 8 and 9 right now?

PHIL MICKELSON: One shot (laughter). Either way it's going to take a low shot, whether I'm at 8 or 9.

Q. Do you feel like shooting par on the back side is backing up a little bit?

PHIL MICKELSON: Not as much as you might think. The back nine is a lot harder than the front. The front is where you need to go low. The par 5s are reachable and more birdie holes. The back nine has some tough holes, but coming from behind I needed to make some birdies and didn't quite do it. Again, I was really pleased with the way I hit it and now I feel like I have a chance tomorrow if I hit it the way I did; I've just got to make the putts.

Q. The first two days you played really well out of the rough, which was supposed to be so penal here. Why was it that the rough wasn't as troubling for you and others in order to get in the game again?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it's more fair. You know, it's fair. You can get creative and try certain shots, whereas what the USGA does is just give you no option. In fact, sometimes you can't even wedge back to the fairway it's so bad.

Here you can hit shots and be creative, and I that I that it tests the overall skills of a player a lot more than another tournament.

Q. If Luke Donald were to hold the lead and end up in the final group, what are some of the things that he's got to wrestle with as a guy that's never won a major or been in that spot beyond just shooting a low round?

PHIL MICKELSON: Just what you would expect from leading a major. It just can be a little nerve wracking. Whether you've done it or not, whether you've won majors or not, it is still nerve wracking to hold the lead. But it's a good nerve wracking. It's a good nervousness because that's what you look forward to, and it's sometimes that edge, that uneasiness in your stomach that actually helps you play better because you don't get overly aggressive and overly confident and you are much more careful on where to place it, where to miss it, and those are typically your better rounds.

Q. I know you'd rather be in the lead, but is it fun to kind of go out and let it go in a final round like that because you don't have any other option?

PHIL MICKELSON: Not as fun as if I were leading, no. It would be more fun leading. But I think that the negative of today was that I had a chance to shoot 8 , 9 under par. The positive is that if I can shoot 8 under par tomorrow, I can do it still.

Q. Some people are going to think that the low scores are diminishing this tournament as a major. Your take on that?

PHIL MICKELSON: I would disagree with them.

Q. Because?

PHIL MICKELSON: Because I think they're wrong (laughter).

End of FastScripts.

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