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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 6, 2010Phil MickelsonAUGUSTA, GEORGIA ROB JOHNSTON: Good afternoon, everyone. We are very pleased and delighted to welcome Phil Mickelson to the media center today. Phil has 37 PGA TOUR victories, including three majors, the 2005 PGA Championship, and two green jackets, 2004, 2006. He has been a member of eight Presidents Cups and seven Ryder Cup Teams, and this will Mark Phil's 18th Masters appearance. Phil, thank you so much for being here and we would welcome any comments you have on the course or the practice range before you answer any questions. PHIL MICKELSON: Well, thanks, Rob. I can't believe it's been 18 Masters. I remember staying here in the Crow's Nest and what a special place. It's the most exciting place to come play as a player. It's where we all get excited to have our shot at the first major championship of the year and to hold it here at Augusta National, everything is so pristine and beautiful; it's a unique place and we are all excited to be here. Q. Obviously first major of the year, you like to be prepared as you come in; looking at the past couple of weeks, are you making the changes in your game to be ready for the first major of the season? PHIL MICKELSON: I would have liked to have had better performances in tournaments, especially on the West Coast, heading into Augusta. My performance has not been what I wanted. I've had a lot of penalty shots the last three rounds, but a lot of that has been the fact that I'm hitting the shots that I expect to play this week without the threat of hazards. There's a couple of water shots out here. But for the most part they are nothing like what we saw last week at Houston or what we saw at Bay Hill. I'm not overly concerned, but I would have liked to have been in contention, sure. Q. Some of your success in the majors in recent years has been based on a lot of studied preparation in advance of the tournament, on site. Were you able to make that same kind of commitment this year with everything going on in your life and you came here and started your first practice round today; have you done as much preparation this year as in the past? PHIL MICKELSON: I was here last week for a couple of days getting ready, and I noticed a lot of subtle changes in the golf course from the last year or two. I don't know how it will affect or if it will affect my strategy for certain pin placements, certain shots into the greens, but I found it interesting. The bunker on No. 1, for instance, is not anywhere near as deep as it used to be. Little things like that that don't get pointed out or pinpointed, having been here as much as I have, I notice that. The pin placement on the back of No. 2 will change the way I play that hole. It used to be that if you were short of the hole, that back-right Sunday pin, if you were short of the bunker, if you were 50, 80 yards from the fairway, what-have-you, it was a very difficult shot to get close to the hole but now it has more of a funnel effect and you can play behind the hole and it will come back to the pin. That will affect the way I play No. 2 because now it's much more difficult behind the hole so I may not go for the green in two, or if I do, I'll play it from the front bunker because it's an easier up-and-down. So subtle things that will adjust the way I play the golf course but for the most part, they are so subtle, it doesn't affect too many shots. Q. There was a lot of praise and excitement about your putting at the end of last year, obviously working with Stockton, how hard is it to maintain that streak with the putter coming into a new season, and how did you feel like you have done that or maintained that? PHIL MICKELSON: Well I felt the West Coast, the biggest reason I didn't have the finishes I wanted was the putter. But the putter has actually been coming around the last few tournaments. I spent a lot of time with Stockton and it feels really good. I've made a lot of mistakes with some ball-striking, hitting balls in hazards. I've had three or four penalty shots almost every round it seems and you just can't do that. So I need to put them both together. I was striking them very well earlier, not putting great but now I'm putting much better but making loose swings. I have Butch here and hopefully we'll get it more solid. This golf course, the reason why I've had success in the past is there are places where you can miss it and still make it on every hole, there are places where you can still get up-and-down and salvage par. So I don't feel like I have to have my perfect game ball-striking to be able to go around this course and shoot in the 60s and I think that's why I enter this tournament with a lot less stress. Q. Tiger was in here yesterday and acknowledged that he under-appreciated the fans for a long time and that's obviously not been an issue with you. Do you think he'll be able to change how he is on the golf course, and if so, do you think that will affect him as a player? PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I don't know. I don't know how that will come about or whatnot. I thought he did a good job yesterday in the interview. I thought he did a good job. Q. Did you ever feel like you're giving a lot to fans had any effects, plus or minus, on your game? PHIL MICKELSON: I think that for me personally, I've always appreciated the fact that I get to play golf for a living. This is an amazing job or opportunity and to play some of the great courses, and of all places, Augusta National, and it's because people support the game. It's because people watch on TV. It's because people come out and support us, and I've just always been appreciative of that. And at times, it has helped me. At times, I have felt energy from the crowd and it has certainly helped me through some loose swings that I've had in the past. I've been appreciative of that, too. Q. Will the new grooves have anymore of an impact this week hitting into these greens? Mike Weir said he noticed a difference hitting some of the chips? PHIL MICKELSON: It very well could, especially around the greens, the ball is not going to stop as quick with the new groove change. And I think it's going to be more important to leave yourself uphill chips, just as it's important to have uphill putts. I think it will affect the strategy a bit more than the shots. And if you can't stop it, you may alter your club; you may putt it from off the green. Q. Having not been as competitive as you wanted to be early on with the results you've had, is part of the by-product of that, that hurts coming in here, the fact that you have not really been in contention late in the weekend, and can you snap back into that if you are here, if you are in contention as you progress here, and as a follow, is there just something that comes over you when you go down Magnolia here, where maybe that does snap you back into form? PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I certainly, as I said earlier, would like to have won, would liked to have been in contention heading into this tournament. I think that's an important part. But there are have been times where I have performed well here in the past where I've had a poor performance missing the week before. I missed the cut last year and I missed the cut in 2003 when I finished third. There's something that relaxes me about this golf course because I don't feel like I have to be perfect. I don't feel like I have to strike it great. As long as I can control my misses and put it where I can get up-and-down, I can let my short game save me strokes here and there. My length will allow me to capitalize on some of the par 5s, as well as par 4s. And I feel like there are a number of birdie holes out here, so even though I haven't been in contention and I get to this course, I feel very comfortable here. Q. Given everything that's happened in your life in the last year or ten months, whichever time frame you want to assign it, in that context, what does golf mean? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, that's an interesting question. It's tough for me to answer, because you know, we've been through a lot here the last year, and I'm fortunate in the way things are playing out for us, because we have in a better situation than a lot of the people we see at our center that we have been getting treatment. But golf has been a big part of my life and it's what makes me happy; I mean, I really enjoy playing golf, whether it's competing in the Masters or whether it's playing golf at home with friends or with my kids, especially. I've just always enjoyed that element. It's also been a big part of kind of getting through it. Q. The press conference yesterday, Tiger apologized to all of the other players; any comment on that apology? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, he doesn't owe me an apology. I mean, in the last 12 years, he's done so much for the game of golf. I don't know if there's been an individual who has capitalized more on the opportunities that he's brought to the game of golf than myself. He doesn't owe me a thing. Q. How much do you find the course changes from the practice rounds to the tournament and then in the course of the tournament after the cut? PHIL MICKELSON: This is an interesting year for that, because I don't know how to answer that question. This is the first time I've showed up on Tuesday, the fairways are a longer length than they have ever been. They haven't thinned out the grass. We are getting much better lies in the fairways. The grass is a little bit longer around the greens, and we can chip, as opposed to being forced to putt, and I don't know if that's going to change Thursday or not. I don't know how low it's going to go. But usually, it's been a lot closer to what we are used to seeing Thursday through Sunday by now, and I'm not sure if there's a slight change in some of the setups or if there's just going to be a more drastic change from Tuesday to Thursday. I don't know how to answer that right now. Q. Is it still playing faster? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it's playing a little shorter because of the heat. The ball is going a long ways in the practice rounds. But it's not the same setup that we are used to seeing, and I'm not sure if we are going to see the same or if it's intended to be different. Q. A little change of subject. Every year we start off and somebody talks about perhaps winning the Grand Slam. You get to four courses this year that the top golfers know very well, you've won on two of them; I can't remember how you did at Whistling Straits. Do you think there's a real possibility somebody could come through and do that, at all? PHIL MICKELSON: I do, yeah. Not just this year. I mean, I think it's very possible. Q. Would you have to have a year where people know the courses well? PHIL MICKELSON: Not necessarily, no. I think you just have to play incredible golf. Tiger's already done it. Maybe not the same calendar year, but he's won four in a row. I do think it's a feat that could be accomplished, yeah. Q. What do you remember best from your last win when you played that Sunday round with Fred? What do you remember best about Fred's game that day and how do you assess his chances this week? PHIL MICKELSON: I think Fred's got an incredible chance to win this week, because he's playing some of the best golf of his career. And, he's been winning. He's competed in this tournament almost every year. Now he's coming into this tournament with championship trophies under his belt, holding onto these big, glass, crystal things, as well as huge checks. (Laughter). So having that confidence of winning I think brings an added element to his game. He hits the ball as long as anybody out on TOUR still, and he's putting better than he's ever putted and he knows this golf course as well as anybody. I expect him to have a great week, I really do. Q. Could he have won had it not been for short putting, in that last one? PHIL MICKELSON: That's kind of a loaded question for me right there. (Laughter). Q. For those of us who were not in Houston, can you just tell us about your guest caddie for a couple of holes and who he was? PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, Dr. Buchholz? Dr. Tom Buchholz has been a huge part of helping us get through, and then our surgeon, Dr. Kelly Hunt, and this lady was incredible. These two doctors have helped us in the toughest time of our life. But during our time in Houston, we would get to talking and Dr. Buchholz had actually caddied on TOUR here in Westchester, he was working in the shop and Allen Miller came in I think in '84 in the Westchester Classic and needed a caddie and he worked for him that week and he finished Top-10. So that was kind of his claim. Well, sure enough, I didn't expect much, but he comes out and he pulls the right clubs and he reads the greens great and we birdie three holes in a row. I was very impressed. Q. Stewart Cink was in here earlier talking about the third shot at 15, how intimidating it is; is there a particular shot on the course that intimidates you or that you're afraid of? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, there's a lot of them, but -- there's a lot of them that would make you fearful but you can't approach them with fear. You have to attack those particular shots. Doesn't mean you have to play at the pin. Doesn't mean you have to make a dumb play. But you have to make an aggressive swing and an aggressive, confident approach to the hole and to the shot. For me, the hardest shot out here is 16. Now, a lot of guys would disagree with that. I understand it but for me, because I'm left-handed in my shot dispersion, but water short left and that top hill on the right is a very difficult shot for me. I have to hit a perfect shot to get it in the right section. So when the pin is to the right, it's actually an easier hole for me because I have the entire green where I can hit it and make par; whereas, when the pin is bottom left, it's actually a harder hole because I only have of half the green now. If I hit it on the top section, I have a 12- or 15-footer for par. That hole is the most challenging for me. Q. Four years ago, you won your third major here; can you imagine if you would be sitting here four years later and still be sitting at 3 majors? Does that bring you any frustration or does that perspective change because of what you and your family have been going through the past year? PHIL MICKELSON: Probably no to both of those. I think that it doesn't change the perspective, and I think maybe I would have thought I would have won more, but I'm excited about what it led me to; meaning, when I lost the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in 2006, I drove it poorly all week. I hit two or three fairways every week; the fact that I still was in contention in that particular championship was surprising. And it led to me working with Butch with the driver, and I'm hitting the ball longer and straighter than I've ever hit it. I don't know if the stats show it or not, but I feel more confident with that club, and I'm starting to turn that club into a real asset for me, as opposed to detriment, and I think because of that, going forward I should have a lot more opportunities in majors. Q. What questions do you have about Tiger's play this week and are there any opinions about his psyche depending how he answers those? Can you look at how somebody plays a golf tournament if you're a professional golf tournament and reasonably assume anything about how they are feeling about the rest of their life? PHIL MICKELSON: I actually am really confused on the question. But as far as the expectation of his play, you know, I don't think anybody expected him to play well in the 2008 U.S. Open; he had not touched a club in a while or not played in a while and he was injured, and yet he came back, and he won. I don't think anybody out here will question his ability to perform at the highest level, even though he has not competed in however many months. So I think from a player's point of view, we expect to see the same player that we have always seen. Q. You touched on it earlier, and kind of even a follow there, but can you just put into words just what his return means to golf? PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know what it means. I just know that everybody is excited. Everybody is excited to have him back, all of the players are excited to have him back, and I think he's excited to be back. Q. You and Tiger put on a pretty good display last year on Sunday, and I am wondering if you can recall your mind-set that day and what that particular stretch of golf was like. PHIL MICKELSON: We had lunch together prior to that round, and we had made a few jokes and laughed and giggled a little bit and I knew that it was going to be a fun day. I just had a feeling that we were both going to go out and play well. We were quite a ways back of the lead at the time and I just felt like we were going to get out and make some noise and we both did. Q. You said Tiger didn't owe you an apology in any way; how surprised were you by the revelations and how surprised were you by the worldwide reaction even leading up to yesterday? Do you think he's hurt the game in any way? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, you've asked like four questions there, so I'm not really sure which one to answer first. In the last 12 years, he's done remarkable things for this game of golf. Everybody's benefitted, everybody in this room has benefitted, too. We've had much more notoriety, need for stories and interest by readers. Television ratings have been higher because of it. We can go endlessly, the things he's done for the game. I think we are all appreciative and I don't think this is going to have any long-term, devastating effects to the game of golf, no. Q. How surprised were you by the revelations and by the interest? PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know, I mean, I don't know what to say there. I think we were all -- I don't know. Q. For at least a decade now, this has been a very big family week for you, the family has come out here and Amy has always been here, I don't know if they are coming out this week; if not, how different will this Masters feel to you than the ones in the recent past? PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I hope that they -- I hope that she's able to come. I know that -- she's not here yet. She's going to try to get here maybe later in the week. I'm hoping they get here for tomorrow's Par 3, because it's really a special time for me to have my kids caddie for me. We have pictures taken and we have collages and we put them up at home and I love looking back at how little they were. I just can't believe how much they have grown and I use it kind of as a time line, seeing them in their cute little jumpers. It's just -- it makes for really cool memories, and I hope they are able to make it. Q. There's another guy teeing up on Thursday that's had no shortage of problems in his home, Ernie Els; the last two years have been really tough for Ernie. How pleased are you to see him back and playing the way he always could? PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I think it's great to have him back. I think he's been playing some incredible golf. You could tell he was right on the verge of playing some incredible golf, and to see him cap it off here with a couple of wins is exciting for the game. He is a big name and big draw and people want to see him play well and people pull for him to play well. To see him break through in the last couple tournaments he's played in and win is very important. Q. When you head into a tournament the magnitude of the majors, are there any advantages to having a story line or another player dominate headlines that doesn't involve you? PHIL MICKELSON: I think that it can be helpful for some players to kind of slide in under the radar and be able to not have as many outside distractions and focus on their game, and maybe reduce their own expectations. You know, that could be an asset for some players. Q. You kind of touched on this earlier; what can you expect from Tiger this week, given all that has gone on, and can he win? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, that's a crazy question to ask, can he win. He showed that he can win in much worse condition in the 2008 U.S. Open. I played with him the first couple of rounds and he was not physically at his best obviously and his game was not the sharpest and yet he still wins. He finds a way to get it done. I don't believe he has any physical ailments right now and I expect his game to be sharp. I mean, this is a golf course he's won on four times and loves as much as I do and plays it as well as anybody ever has in the history of the game. So this is a place that I think a lot of people know that he can win on, and it's going to take a good performance to beat him. Q. Coming in here, you probably knew you were going to get Tiger Woods questions; were you either dreading it or thinking to yourself, why do you have to go through these kind of things? PHIL MICKELSON: No. Uh-uh. (Laughter). Q. What were your emotions the last few months, watching it and following it like everyone else? PHIL MICKELSON: You know, I don't really want to go into that. I mean, hopefully after yesterday, which I thought he did a great job, it will start to die down for him and for everybody else, too. Q. Watching you at Bethpage last year, there was such an outpouring of emotion towards you and towards your wife; can you give us an update on her condition and what the response has meant to you? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, the support that we have received has meant a lot for us through this process. I think as I've said before, things are good long term. We are okay long term. But day-to-day has been difficult, and the medicines and so forth have been challenging, and has made the quality of life not what we -- hopefully we are trying to work on that and make it better. Q. The 18th tee, is there any hole in all of golf that causes you to tough up when you're in contention? I saw you on television the other day, four years ago when you were level with Ernie Els on the 18th tee, and I have played that hole, and I tell you what, it's the most difficult tee shot I think I've ever faced. How do you feel on that? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I think if you can carry it more than 200, it opens up the hole. (Laughter) So it might not play as difficult as you remember, but you're right, it is a challenging tee shot. ROB JOHNSTON: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. And Phil, we wish you the very best of luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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