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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 21, 2007

Phil Mickelson

TUCSON, ARIZONA

Q. Phil, a tough first match but I'm sure happy to be through.
PHIL MICKELSON: I'm very happy to get through. I was 2 down through four holes, I wasn't hitting it the best and I was able to turn it around a little bit in the middle of the match. That combined with a couple of mistakes by my opponent, I was able to get through.
You need a little bit of fortune like that. When you're not playing your best, you need a little fortune to keep going.

Q. A lot of guys talk about how different this golf course is from last year. Can you compare them for us?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I didn't -- I hadn't played here before, and La Costa is a course everybody has been used to for a number of years. The greens are the biggest area. They're huge, and there's a lot of roll to them, a lot of speed to them.
And where the pins were placed today they were right on the shelves and edges and you couldn't go at them. You can't try to make birdie. I had to hit it 30 feet and try to two-putt or hope that one went in. So it was very difficult to be aggressive, which I don't like for match play. I like match play where you can be aggressive and attack and make some birdies, and today it was a very defensive round by everybody.

Q. You didn't like your start, but how about the confidence you came in here with? Did that pay dividends today when you don't get off to the start you want?
PHIL MICKELSON: Very possibly could have made a difference having a little bit of momentum heading into today. But when it's man against man in match play, you just don't know what's going to happen. You don't know what you need to shoot. And like I say, you just need a little bit of fortune to keep going through.

Q. You don't have long to enjoy a win, either, because this is like a final round every match. But tomorrow you play somebody who won today, as well.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, and that's fun. That's fun. I get a good match with Justin Rose tomorrow. He's a very solid player, good, young player in the game, and he's been coming into his own and really developing as a player, and he's going to be a real challenge tomorrow I can tell.

Q. I'm going to ask you a final thing. What did you find today after those first four holes that you felt were key to turn things around?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I started hitting the ball in play, hitting the ball in fairways, and then I was able to not make any bogeys. I drove in the water on the fourth hole and lost the hole and drove it in the bushes -- so I had to keep the ball in play to keep having a chance in the match.

Q. How well do you know Justin?
PHIL MICKELSON: Reasonably well. He's been playing over here on the U.S. Tour for quite a while and he's just a very solid player.

Q. Just in general do you like the way you're striking the ball?
PHIL MICKELSON: I got through today's round, and I think Richard and I, neither one of us played the way we wanted to play. I didn't get off to a great start. In the middle of the round I started hitting some better shots, and that's when he started to not play his best. In the end we were just kind of fighting it out and I was able to get through it.

Q. Tough opponent, huh?
PHIL MICKELSON: He's a tough player. All left-handers (laughter). I'm sorry to see a left-hander have to go, but he's a really nice guy, a really good player, and I'm fortunate to get through.

Q. It seemed like between the back nine on Saturday and maybe at some point today you kind of got lost a little bit with the swing. Seems like now you're kind of back to where you were.
PHIL MICKELSON: I was starting to hit the ball a little bit better. In the middle of the round I started to hit some much better shots, drive it better. It just started to settle in a little bit. It just started to settle in.

Q. Why don't you just talk about the turning points in your round today.
PHIL MICKELSON: The ninth hole was almost a turning point where I was 1-down and it looked like I was going to win the hole when he drove it in the desert, took an unplayable lie but then knocked it four feet and made par. And I ended up having to make a seven-footer for par. That could have been a big turnaround had I not been able to salvage a halve.
But when I ended up making the birdie putt on 14 and -- what other hole did I win? I think I won 15 -- no, I didn't win 15. I won 13 to get back to even. That was a big one. That was 13. I made a putt on 13 to get back to even. That was a big turning point because it gave me a little bit of momentum.

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