	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 8, 2007

Phil Mickelson

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

JOE CHEMYCZ: Welcome Phil Mickelson to the interview room. Have you had a chance to go out and play the golf course? Start with a couple of thoughts about what you've seen out there.
PHIL MICKELSON: I think the course looks terrific. I think everyone agrees. It looks really, really good. It's in great shape. And they've incorporated more chipping and short game areas. It's going to play fabulous. It's going to be tough, but it's really, really good.

Q. Phil, some players in the past talked about coming here and they couldn't help but think about Augusta two weeks after. Could you talk about this tournament being in May and being in its own spotlight?
PHIL MICKELSON: The new date for this tournament has been very beneficial, I think, because it's spread out the five big tournaments and it gives THE PLAYERS Championship, it puts them in the company of the other four majors. And by spreading each one out a month apart, we now have a tournament for the next five months. And it also takes away all the questions and the preparation for The Masters that this tournament has had in the past.

Q. You've had a couple of good results the last couple of weeks. How do you think you're playing, and are you finding anything out about your game?
PHIL MICKELSON: The last couple of weeks have been good; to finish third both weeks, I'm pleased with that. I hadn't had that level of consistency the early part of the year, even though I had a first and a second. The other finishes weren't as high as I'd like. I'm hoping to improve on that this week. I played well the last two weeks.
I had a good session with Butch this morning. I'll see him again tomorrow and we'll -- hopefully I'll be sharp for Thursday's opening round.

Q. Not very much was done above the ground. The fairway bunker on 7, the new green on 12, and some length on some of the holes, but of all those changes, is there one hole that you think has been affected the most by some added distance or some other above-ground change?
PHIL MICKELSON: I didn't really think there was that much of a difference in one particular hole, but there were a lot of little subtle changes to every hole.
I thought to the right of 15 was a great little chipping area, a spot you could play from, and it gives you an alternative route into that green if you hit a poor tee shot. As opposed to being thick, heavy rough like it's been in the past, now it's a chipping opportunity.
And there is a number of those throughout; on every hole there were added chipping areas. And I thought that incorporating the short game is going to be the biggest change to this golf course that you can see.

Q. The added length on 11, will that change, or will the runout you're getting on firmer fairways negate that?
PHIL MICKELSON: I still think that people will be going for the green fairly frequently, but if there are more layups on 11, I don't think it will be due to the added length, I think it will be more because of the firmness of the greens and how difficult it is to hold that small green.

Q. How long does it take for you to discover new things about your game with a different coach? Does the yardage start showing differences or does it take longer?
PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not sure if there's a set time frame, but I think it will take some time for me to feel comfortable and confident with a couple of changes. But I'm starting to see the difference. Statistics don't show much of a difference right now, but I'm starting to see it the way the ball is coming off the face. And I'm pleased with that.
I'll have a lot of work to get to where I want to be, ultimately, and that's going to take time. There's no little, quick fix to years of poor driving.

Q. I guess with the changes and shortening the backswing, the next step is trusting it under fire, fair to say?
PHIL MICKELSON: You're assuming that you've accurately pinpointed what I was working on, but if that were the case, then the next step would be to trust it in competition.

Q. Along those lines, though, do you find yourself working on one thing with Butch and then having a hard time making yourself do that thing in competition or in practice rounds?
PHIL MICKELSON: No, no. But there's probably three or four things that I'll ultimately need to get to be able to incorporate and we're just taking them one at a time, which is probably why I haven't seen the statistical results yet.

Q. From a player's standpoint, is there a different feel from the tournament this week, not having a major two weeks after?
PHIL MICKELSON: There is a different feel, I think, that having this tournament on its isolated date separated from other majors, having the way the marketing for the tournament has been, the way the purse has been and the way the clubhouse and the ambiance now around here feels first class, it has that special feel that only majors seem to have.

Q. Where does this tournament rank in your hierarchy, in terms of stops for the season?
PHIL MICKELSON: 5th.

Q. Whatever the changes are, when you first start undertaking that, does it feel as weird to you as making a change would to one of us who's got a double-digit handicap?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I just thought your normal swing felt weird (laughter), but if you count changes, probably.
The changes probably feel more extreme than they look. So, yes, I would probably agree with that.

Q. Does it ever get frustrating or has it ever gotten frustrating at any point since 1996 in trying to catch up to Tiger, or do you only view that as one of the challenges in this game that keeps you going and keeps you interested?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I don't know if that's -- if I would agree with trying to catch up with Tiger. Like I said earlier, he has won 57 or so events, and if I play for another ten years and I'm fortunate enough to win 20 events and win seven more majors, which would be incredible, I would have 50 wins and 10 majors, and I still wouldn't be where he's at.
It's not that I'm trying to catch up to Tiger. I love the fact that I get to play against probably the best players that ever lived and compete against him in his prime. Not many players can say they have a chance to do that. When I do win tournaments, when I do win majors, it adds more credibility to those majors. So I enjoy the challenge of trying to win tournaments with him in the field.

Q. In light of what you just said, why do you go through these changes? You were like one of the great players in the game. Why try to change that?
PHIL MICKELSON: I felt that the last three years, as I improved from 150 yards in and I started to win golf tournaments because of my short game and improved iron play, if I could get more balls in the fairway and give me more of those shots where I feel I've improved and I feel like I'm sharp, then I could shoot even lower scores and maybe win even more tournaments.

Q. I know you said you don't want to talk about the swing specifics about what you're working with Butch on. Is your work with him going to be just swing work or range work, or will you guys talk about course management and how to play specific holes on specific golf courses?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know how our relationship is going to evolve. I think in any relationship you start slow and you kind of build from there. And right now I've entrusted his abilities or his knowledge to help me become a better driver of the golf ball. And as we hopefully accomplish that, our relationship will probably take on more areas. But for now it's with the golf swing, trying to get my long game sharp.

Q. When we go to the U.S. Open this year, there's not going to be anybody in their 20s with a major title on their resumé. It's a rare occurrence. Do you think some of this under-20 crowd is getting a bum rap because they're in the wake of Tiger and you and Vijay and Ernie taking more than your fair share maybe?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know, I think that a lot of the good young players have been motivating factors for many of us because we realize and identify how talented these players are and how good they are, and that we have to work hard to stay -- to keep pace with them. There are incredible players in their 20s. I don't know why they haven't won majors, but that's not going to last very long.

Q. Adam just told us that he's been working with Butch for eight years, and Butch has never charged him for a lesson. Does that surprise you?
PHIL MICKELSON: You know, that's not my area. I don't go there, what I do with my instructors who give their time, and everybody has got their own deal. I don't really go into that.

Q. Are these the biggest swing changes that you've made in your career, and what would come closest to this?
PHIL MICKELSON: That's hard to say. I just don't know. But they're certainly modifications to try to get my driving improved.

Q. Is there much a difference in the way Butch communicates his ideas to you as compared to the way Rick would communicate his ideas to you?
PHIL MICKELSON: He probably swears a little bit more (laughter).

Q. You started right before Byron Nelson. When you went to Byron Nelson, did you feel like you could actually go there and compete and win while you were trying to make changes? Or if not, when did you start feeling like you felt comfortable enough that you could start taking it and compete with it?
PHIL MICKELSON: The first time that we really worked -- obviously I spent time with Butch earlier in the year at Doral and Tucson, he came in the Sunday before the Byron Nelson and we had talked on the phone a couple of days prior to that. And I knew what we were going to work on. I had a couple of days' head start.
When we spent time on Sunday I was really hitting it well. And I thought that -- I thought I was going to do very well at the Byron Nelson, better than I did. I thought I was going to drive it better than I did. And as it turns out, it takes a little bit of adjustment to have confidence with it under the gun when fairways are tighter and fairways are firmer and crosswinds and so forth.
And so the more I play, the more I feel comfortable with the changes, the more they set in and they don't feel so foreign, and the better I'm able to perform under pressure.

Q. What's your opinion of 17? And not necessarily the merits of the hole, but where it is on the course. Do you think it's a little bit, as one player described, a little too gimmicky to be the 17th hole of the tournament?
PHIL MICKELSON: I wouldn't necessarily say that. I think it adds for the most exciting finish in golf combined with 16 and 18.
I think that 16 provides a great chance for birdies and eagles.
17 provides a great chance for a birdie, but also a double bogey or worse.
18 is one of the toughest pars that we'll ever see. Those final holes make for an exciting finish in golf. And I don't think that anything -- I wouldn't recommend any changes.

Q. I know you don't like looking ahead, but at what point will you start preparing for the U.S. Open at Oakmont?
PHIL MICKELSON: About three weeks ago, yeah (laughter).

Q. Your thoughts about how difficult it is and so forth?
PHIL MICKELSON: It's a very difficult golf course and driving is important, hence the move to drive the ball better.

Q. With the talk of 17 playing downwind this week, how difficult will it be to judge and hold that green?
PHIL MICKELSON: Very. Very difficult. It took me six times to finally -- six shots today to get one on the green. The same club was coming up short. The same club was going long. The wind was varying. And finally the wind stayed about right and I got one on the surface.

Q. What club?
PHIL MICKELSON: 8-iron.

Q. What's the time that you felt like most unsure or, I guess, worrying about No. 17? When you're standing on the tee during the tournament?
PHIL MICKELSON: You try to suppress that hole until the last minute. You really do. You try to suppress it until you walk off 16th green. You don't want to think about it early in the round. You know you want to make a lot of birdies before you get there.

Q. When you're making this type of a radical change in your game, do you lower your expectation level at all?
PHIL MICKELSON: I wouldn't say it's radical. I wouldn't say I lower expectations. Because I'm not doing anything different from 150 yards in, which is the scoring. It's not like I'm working on a new technique for chipping or putting or my iron play. All it is is trying to add a different element off the tee.
It hasn't gotten worse. And I feel like it can only get better. If I start hitting more fairways and giving myself one or two more iron shots, I feel like I can win a tournament.

Q. Do you feel like you can win the tournament the way your game is right now?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think it's going to take not too much improvement from the last two weeks to get there.

Q. I just want to clarify, you said on 17, so it took you six balls before you found one that stayed dry?
PHIL MICKELSON: On the green.

Q. Oh, on the green.
PHIL MICKELSON: I had one on the fringe. One on the rough. One bounced short back in the water. One bounced over. One flew over. And one ended up ten feet (laughter). So with a couple-shot penalty along the way, what is that, 12? Nice.

Q. What's the toughest par-3 you've played and what's your favorite par-3 that you've played?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think that the 12th at Augusta is the hardest par-3 to make a par. But the 17th here at the TPC is one of the most difficult because it's -- there's not a cap on how high you can go (laughter). Did Bob have trouble with that hole, too?

Q. A couple of years ago, he took a 12.
PHIL MICKELSON: No. It's not an easy shot with the other wedge. You're worrying about spinning it back down the slope into the water, you're worrying about flying too far. It's a hard hole.

Q. Toughest pin position there for you is what?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think the front pin is the hardest because it's the hardest two-putt. Usually you're going to be 40 feet long. It takes a really good shot to be on the bottom section. I'm always playing the middle of the green there. So those other three pins that are that are in back, it's a much easier two-putt than it is to the front pin.

Q. You say that's the only green in golf that you play to the middle of the green every time?
PHIL MICKELSON: No, no. Why, is that weird to hear me say that?

Q. Very weird.
PHIL MICKELSON: No, I actually shoot a lot more middle of the greens than you think, especially when the pin is there (laughter).

Q. You played with Mark Calcavecchia today. You've known him for a long time. He's 47. How would you describe him. Is he funny? And if so, how?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, he is funny. He has a very witty, dry sense of humor. He's self-deprecating, and he knows a lot of good jokes and a lot of good stories, and he's fun to play with and he plays fast.

Q. With 17, if they just filled it all in with dirt and got rid of the water, would it be a lot easier with you? Is it more mental than anything else with you, 17?
PHIL MICKELSON: Most holes, most every golf hole in all of golf has one side that's a severe penalty and the other side that's open, that's playable. And this is one of the few holes that I can think of that has no bail-out, that has no margin of error, that has no area for recovery. It's an all-or-nothing type shot. Very few holes have that, are like that.
If there were dirt all around it, then you would have a chance to salvage your par if you missed the green. So it would be a whole different feel off the tee.
JOE CHEMYCZ: Phil, thank you. Play well this week.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297