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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

June 3, 2006

Phil Mickelson

Muirfield Village Golf Club, Columbus, Ohio

PHIL MICKELSON: It's not frustrating. We were able to get almost all the golf in without rain. It was a terrific day. It was a long day, we started early and played a lot of holes. It was a great day. It looks like we'll finish tomorrow. So that's great for the tournament?

Q. You really get started on 5, you go for it and that was kind of that shot, you're flirting with the water and you make birdie there, and then you kind of take off?

PHIL MICKELSON: I had a lot of breaks today. The break on 5, you could say. Although I had more than enough club to carry the water, I wasn't concerned about that. I had a great putt on 7 going for eagle, that was lucky. I chipped in on 10, that was lucky. But I also had a couple of things like on 11 where I hit good shots and made a double. It was an up and down day. But tomorrow is a new day.

Fortunately, I only have one shot to hit in the morning. And I'm looking forward to the final round and hopefully having a chance. I know Carl Pettersson and some of the guys up on the top of the leaderboard are playing well. Hopefully I can make enough shots to maybe catch them and make a run at it.

Q. On 7, took a right turn?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yes, it did. You know that's 50, 60 feet, I'm trying to 2 putt it and it ended up curling in the hole. And those are great bonus shots.

Q. What did you hit into 7?

PHIL MICKELSON: I hit 4 wood.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: It was 265 hole, 248 to the front, I believe, something like that. And just try to hit them in the middle of the green and 2 putt, and I ended up making it.

Q. The chip on 10 was unbelievable. You hit, it looked like full speed and the ball went six inches, maybe a foot, because of that slope?

PHIL MICKELSON: Is that not how you would have played that shot?

Q. That's like 8 inches of rough, like, there and it's sliding down.

PHIL MICKELSON: It was quick and I probably even if I hit that, it would have gone 6, 7 feet by the hole. It was a spot I shouldn't have put myself. I shouldn't have missed that green long, and I did. And I got a lucky break. I hit a good shot that caught the pin and went in.

Q. You probably feel like you can win anywhere. But not to play here in four years and now being no contention. Do you feel good about your position?

PHIL MICKELSON: I do. I've learned a lot this round, the last couple of rounds, because there are a lot of subtleties in the course. Places you can hit it, and places you can't hit it. Had I played here the last couple of years, I would have known how much the ball spun back on 11, and maybe not have hit that shot. It may have cost me a couple of shots there. I may not come out on top tomorrow, but maybe next year I can take what I learned this year and apply it and play even better.

Q. Just your mindset and how well do you have to play tomorrow do you think?

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know what score I have to shoot. I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, but it is fun having a chance after a few weeks off and not being in contention, really since The Masters, it's nice to get back in contention and feel that nervousness, that excitement and we'll see how I play tomorrow. But it's a great way to start my run here to the U.S. Open.

Q. (Inaudible.)

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know, but I know that I've got a ways to go. I'm still two shots back. A couple of guys at 10, and the leader at 11, and I'm only at 8. I've got a lot of birdies I've got to go make. They're playing some good golf.

Q. It looks like it could be shaping up to be a shootout?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yes, it could be a shootout. And one or two guys could run away with it, too. It's a course where you can score low, and we've also seen some high scores. Out of those five or six guys that are up on top in the lead, a couple of them could run away. But if nobody does, we could have a shoot out with 10 or 15 people.

Q. Only 28 guys have had Jack hand them that trophy on Sunday, how special would that be to win this tournament?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, everybody would love it. Muirfield Village has provided such a difficult test of golf now that there's a lot more pride for a player having won on this venue and such a difficult golf course and setup.

End of FastScripts.

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