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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

June 1, 2006

Phil Mickelson

DUBLIN, OHIO

PHIL MICKELSON: On 7, I got lucky again, absolutely. I had a horrendous lie in the rough. I was trying to carry it over the front bunker and it came out okay and reason up six feet from the hole and I made it.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: I'll gladly take it. I think that I could have made a par on 18 a little easier, if I I pulled the 8 iron to the right of the pin. I was trying to hit more at the center of the green and draw it.

But 17, after that drive, I was looking at 5 the whole way.

It was fine, I'll take 3 under the first round. I know there's a low round out there, with the greens being receptive, there's a low round out there. But there's three other days to get that, too.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know. It's fair for everybody. Everybody has to play it.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't really care. I like a variety. I like a variety of things on Tour. I like that we have courses like Harbour Town, that are short and tight, and don't require a driver. And I like that we have courses like Augusta that are long and more open. I like that we have fast greens and slow greens and flat greens, like Harbour Town, and hilly greens with a lot of pitch. I like the variety. And these bunkers are just a different variety than we're used to.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, see, I just came from Winged Foot, and that makes this not so bad.

Q. A couple of years ago you came to Akron and (inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: Not really, no.

Q. At that time in your life, back at that time, was that just something you wanted to do and moved on with it from there?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it was fun. Wouldn't you have liked to have hung out for a couple of games and took BP and pitched? Yeah, it was fun. So did I.

Q. It's been a while since you played here. Has the course changed much?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it has. I feel a little hesitant on certain shots, not knowing where I can miss it and where I can't miss it. A lot of the pitch in the greens has changed. A lot of the pin placements have changed. I'm trying to pick it up as I play the practice round yesterday and play the Pro Am, and try to pick it up as I play today on where the pins will be tomorrow and what shots I'll hit in. It's playing different.

Q. With the bunkers being a true hazard and not knowing the kind of lie, does it do anything to your mindset whether you're going to go for a pin, given where the bunkers are now?

PHIL MICKELSON: No, I don't think the bunkers are a problem. The only thing is, you can't spin it. The ball comes out fine, but you can't spin it. As long as you're short of the hole, you're okay. We had a lot of up and downs out of the bunkers. Jason Gore did and Heath Slocum did. And I got up and down on 8 out of the bunker. We had as a group, got up and down, but they were all below the hole.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: I hit some good shots today. But I also hit some pretty poor ones. So I'll have to fine tune that as we go on to more demanding, tighter fairways with The Open.

Q. What's a good score this week?

PHIL MICKELSON: It's hard to say. Today I thought five or six under was going to be a pretty good score. I think we'll still see it out there today. The greens are soft. It's playing as easy as it can play with the softer greens and softer fairways.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, yeah, it makes these fairways look awfully wide and the rough not so bad. But it just makes it look more open than what I was used to this weekend.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to the tough test, it will be very challenging. And I don't foresee guys going very low there unless, again, we get rain or something. But, gosh, the golf course is so tough.

Q. Is it set up well for you?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I like the way it's set up, but it's one thing to know how to play it, but you still have to execute, make the putts and shoot a low score on a tough course.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: Next week, maybe, but not this course is playing not far from U.S. Open. When the fairways were running off from the rough, it was playing pretty tight.

Q. How do you enjoy this, with the fans?

PHIL MICKELSON: I had a great time today, I had a fun group with Heath Slocum and Jason Gore. We had a good time. I was able to make some birdies early and get some momentum and have a fun round. It's been fun to come back.

End of FastScripts.

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