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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

April 2, 2008

Phil Mickelson

HUMBLE, TEXAS

Q. Phil, your team is on fire on there for awhile.
PHIL MICKELSON: We had a great day. My team, man, they played some good golf today.
Couple of guys hit some great shots, and I was fortunate to help them out one, two holes, but they didn't leave many openings for me.

Q. Why did you decide to play here this year?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I was told, and accurately, that they were going -- the golf course was going to be set up similarly to Augusta. It was tremendous. The greens are fast. The fairways are perfect and tight. They even mowed the grain into you in the fairway just like Augusta does. There's no rough.
The first cut just like Augusta. It's a great place to get ready for next week. I'm very appreciative that the tournament made such an effort to make the course so similar.

Q. How is your game coming together?
PHIL MICKELSON: It's coming around. I'm expecting to play well this week. I've had a good couple of weeks of practice and last week, I guess, and was at Augusta and had a good couple of practice sessions. Expect to play well.

Q. How does this field shape up?
PHIL MICKELSON: The field? I haven't looked at the list of who is playing, but I have heard that a lot of top players are here and that it's a very strong field, which is great.

Q. What do you like most about the course?
PHIL MICKELSON: How similar the setup is to Augusta. I love that there's no rough. It's kind of nice.

Q. Phil, so much attention goes to the number one player in the world, for obvious reasons.
Do you feel like what you accomplish in your career sometimes kind of gets lost, unappreciated?
PHIL MICKELSON: Not really.

Q. Phil, lot of guys yesterday kind of said the course is set up similar to Augusta but there's only so much they can do. Can you kind of address? Do you think it's ideal preparation or only so much you can do?
PHIL MICKELSON: It's ideal. It really is. It may not be exact, but all the shots that you have to hit next week, you have the same conditions here. You have the same shots out of the first cut, same shots around the green, tight lies, grain into you. It's very similar. It was just a tremendous job. I'm very impressed.

Q. Phil, is the field better going into a Major playing the week before?
PHIL MICKELSON: I do. It's one of those things to find out what works best as an individual. Playing the week before has been the best way for me to get my best golf out the week of the Major.

Q. Is it too early to say you'll be back here again next year?
PHIL MICKELSON: It might be too early, but I would say given the efforts that I've seen this week, I would plan on making this a permanent stop.

Q. What do you think about No. 18?
PHIL MICKELSON: I saw last year the game between Appleby and Adam Scott. It's a great hole because it provides an opportunity for a 1 to 3-shot swing.

Q. It sets up for you pretty well?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it's not bad.

Q. Phil with some of your injuries last year, how excited are you to come in with a fresh sheet of music this year?
PHIL MICKELSON: I'm certainly looking forward to the four Majors this year, given my performance in them last year, but I'm fortunate that I don't have any injury problems. I feel great. I've been having some good practice sessions. I'm excited to get started.

Q. Will the wet weather help scoring or make it where the fairways don't roll as much?
PHIL MICKELSON: The wet weather will help the scoring. It will allow you to get the ball stopped quickly in some corner pins. You can tuck it left or right and have it tough. With the softer conditions, you'll see guys attacking the pins more.

Q. The speed of the greens here, how close is it to Augusta?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, today Pro-Am Day it's not like it will be in the tournament, but I know that they're not going to be watering them. They're going to be making them harder and faster as the week goes on. If we don't get much rain, I think the weekend will be very similar, very close.

Q. Phil, you've been able to use the week before the Masters as a way to build momentum. You played in Atlanta very well. What is kind of the art involved there in your game, getting it honed at that time?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I don't know if I know, but if I did, I wouldn't tell you. So, you know, I'm sorry with the answer on that one.

End of FastScripts

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