	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 BARCLAYS

August 20, 2008

Phil Mickelson

PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY

LAURA HILL: Thanks for coming in, I know you've done a ton of media already, so we'll just open it up to questions for Phil.

Q. What's your take on the FedExCup Playoffs a year into it in terms of overall structure?
PHIL MICKELSON: My take on the FedExCup. First of all I'm excited to start off a Playoff series, and I think this will be that. And in its second year, there's a bit better understanding of what it is and what it entails and how to win and who can win. Although, I don't think anybody really understands the points fully. We just know that if you play well, you're going to do well and that's all that really matters.
So I think it's gaining a lot of traction with the players. The players are excited about it. What's cool is that we have a guy like Padraig Harrington, who just won the last two majors, and would love to take a bunch of time off, but he cares about the Playoffs, and he's here and plans on playing every week. I think that speaks to how credible these events have quickly become.

Q. Are you happy with the changes that have been made; specifically with the scheduling and the points system?
PHIL MICKELSON: Doesn't matter what me or any other player thinks. It's about what's best for the Playoffs and best for these tournaments to succeed and to get the players to play, and to get ultimately the guy who is playing the best to become the champion. That's all that matters.
And I think that the points system, I think is fine. I think it's very good, and the reason that is, is because you have to have it open to where in a playoff system, anybody can win, per se. But you also still have to entice players and create value into having a higher ranking heading into the Playoffs. Otherwise, guys won't play; if they are already in and everyone starts at zero, there's no incentive for the guys to play those last few events towards the end of the year.
So there's an incentive for guys to finish high, and it's to where the top 20 or 30 really realistically have a chance of winning the FedExCup. And yet, there's enough turnover to where nobody has any idea really who is going to win.

Q. I know you've said nice things about Ridgewood. Does it fit your eye better than Westchester did?
PHIL MICKELSON: I like Westchester. I think it's a great golf course. I do feel as though Ridgewood is a step up in quality. It's just a wonderful golf course. I've always loved going to Westchester, but this course really is a major championship feel. It's a Tillinghast, same designer as Winged Foot; same designer I believe as Baltusrol, very similar feel, and it has that northeast, major championship field.

Q. Is it more Winged Foot or Baltusrol (laughter)?
PHIL MICKELSON: It's got glimpses of both. It really has glimpses of both. You can see similarities throughout.

Q. Hopefully it will be more Baltusrol than Winged Foot for you.
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, the 18th hole doglegs right, not left, so that's a nice change. (Laughter).

Q. I know you've come out and said you like for golf to be part of the Olympics, for a small country starting a golf program, do you have any specific advice on how to do that, and do you think it's possible they could be competitive in eights years?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I believe that is very possible. I think in eight years, you can take people that are in their early teens and turn them into quality golfers. However, I think it would take 12 or 16 years for these young countries to have players of a world-class level, but it's very doable.
I think that the steps you would have to involve would be fitness. I think that fitness has become a very strong part of it, and so if you got these young kids on the proper work out regime to enhance their golf skills, rotational speed and what-have-you, they could be powerful players and still have touch.
I think you have to incorporate some great-quality instruction, some of the best instructors in the world would come in and set up schools and train instructors and so forth. I think over a 20-year plan, any country can have world-class golf that can compete on a worldwide basis on the PGA TOUR or anywhere.

Q. Just wondering if you've given any thought to the Player of the Year race and who you would vote for at this point.
PHIL MICKELSON: I haven't.

Q. Anthony Kim was just in a couple of minutes ago and said really he believes possibly every hole is a birdie hole if you put it in the fairway. You've struggled with fairway accuracy; how can you keep it in the fairway this week?
PHIL MICKELSON: Other than driving it straighter? I don't get it. Is there a trick to this question? (Laughter).

Q. Let's go to something else. The greens, the ridges left and right, greens are really tough; the greens and how they play, how does that affect the approach shots coming in?
PHIL MICKELSON: The challenge as you pointed out is obviously the rough is tough. That's one of the biggest challenges here at Ridgewood, and you're right, you have to drive the ball in play because the rough is very challenging.
I think it's not a wedge out. I think that there are a lot of times that you can get the ball up by the green, and most of the holes at Ridgewood are up at front where you can run a shot on.
The second biggest challenge is the firmness of the greens. When the greens get firm, all the subtleties and rolls come into play, and the false fronts and roll-offs on the sides make the greens very difficult to hit. And so that will be the second greatest challenge, especially since we are not expected to have rain.

Q. I know you build your season around the majors, but do you feel the FedExCup is prominent enough now that if you win it, that it makes up or makes a season when you don't win a major?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think that THE PLAYERS Championship and the FedExCup have enough credibility to where it can offset a season if you were to do well in those events, and not win a major.
But still, the majors have had that sense of history that is hard to replace in just two years. But still I think anybody that does well and plays well in the FedExCup and wins the FedExCup, I think that would ease a lot of -- would ease anything if they didn't play well in the majors.

Q. How did you spend last week, and how do you think about the state of your game right now coming into this nice stretch of play?
PHIL MICKELSON: I spent last week working on short game, trying to get that sharp. I played some golf back home, spent some time with my family and kids and took them on dates. I had a great week.
I'm excited about the next six weeks. We as a family know they are going to be difficult because we play five of them and they are stressful; with the Ryder Cup being a stressful yet fun week and the kids are not with us. The next few weeks are going to be tough. They start school in the middle of this.
But, it's also the end. It's the end of the season. If we can play well, and finish the season on a high note, it will set up the off-season, it will set up next year's 2009 and just put a better taste going into the off-season.

Q. Do you like where your game is right now?
PHIL MICKELSON: I feel like I'm close. I feel like I've been playing some pretty good golf. I haven't taken it to that last level of winning, but I've been just below.

Q. They have an off-week built into the schedule three weeks from now. Do you guys have -- have you made plans to do anything for that week? You take weeks off; this is a week when everybody has complete carte blanche to do whatever they want before The Ryder Cup and whatnot. Do you have a family outing or anything?
PHIL MICKELSON: When I take time off, I usually like to take two or three weeks off at a time. The reason is for the first week, I won't tough a club and we'll do anything but golf. And the second week, I try to practice a little bit and get ready for the upcoming event.
The difficulty here has been that after the British Open, that week off, couldn't really take a full week off and not let -- and let the game slide, so I had to be practicing during that week off, so that the World Golf Championships and the PGA, I was somewhat sharp. And then after the PGA, I really couldn't shut it down because I want to be sharp heading into the FedExCup.
And the week before the Ryder Cup, you can't really shut it down, because you want to finish strong. You want to play well in the Ryder Cup, as well as THE TOUR Championship. So I would not really call it a great week off, because it's not. I still have to keep my game sharp.
The time off will come, though, after THE TOUR Championship.

Q. You're a popular player wherever you go, and here in the New York, New Jersey area, you seem to just really win over the fans and everything like that. What makes it that they magnetize towards you?
PHIL MICKELSON: I mean, I could say that I'm cute, but that's really not true. I mean, my wife thinks that but not many others.
I don't know. I don't know. It's flattering. It's cool. I've always loved playing here, and since 2002 at Bethpage, I had one of the most amazing experiences there, and winning the 2005 PGA at Baltusrol was an incredible experience.
I love playing golf here, and the people here have just been incredibly supportive and warm towards me and my family, and we love it here.
LAURA NEAL: Phil, thank you. Good luck this week.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297