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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 15, 2011

Phil Mickelson

SANDWICH, ENGLAND

Q. How did today go in general?
PHIL MICKELSON: It was a fun day today. I got fortunate being on the good wave of the tee times, going late-early, and had a chance the front nine to shoot something low. The weather was kind of down, the wind was kind of down. Didn't quite do it, shot even par but was able to make a birdie on the back, shoot 1-under, and it was a good, fun day.

Q. The position you're in right now (inaudible.)
PHIL MICKELSON: It's fun to be in contention heading into the weekend of the British. One of the things I'm looking forward to is actually the bad weather. I hope that it comes in and that we get faced with that. I think it's going to be a very difficult challenge, but the course is set up in a way that can accommodate some bad weather. I think that the fairway corridors are a little bit wider and you should be able to keep the ball in play a little bit easier.

Q. (Inaudible.)
PHIL MICKELSON: I just wanted to start fresh because I've loved links golf. I just had to really enjoy the challenge of it more. I've always loved the different shots that are required and the strategy about how the courses are designed with the bunker placements. One day they're not in play because of the wind and the wind changes and now they are. I just think this is really a fun way to play golf, and I wanted to have kind of a fresh start.

Q. Do you find after two days that that approach has worked?
PHIL MICKELSON: It has, yeah, and there's been another little element that's been helpful. I've been working on this very low shot off the tee, very low driver, low 3-wood, and I've been able to control it and get it to roll along the ground easy, and I'm not fighting the wind as much. So when I get a direct cross wind, I get the ball on the ground quicker and I don't have that big miss as much because it's not in the air as long.

Q. How long ago did you start doing that?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I started it in '04, the year that I played well, but haven't been as sharp with it over the years.

Q. Are you looking forward to windy, wet, miserable weather?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, because everybody is going to have to play in it, and the fact that everybody is going to have to play in it just means that you can make up ground with pars rather than have to make birdies.

Q. Do you think you have a certain advantage if everyone is facing it, a mental-toughness issue?
PHIL MICKELSON: Historically I would say no. Historically I have not played great in windy conditions and rain, but I welcome the challenge. I'm looking forward to that challenge and I'm hoping I've got the shots now to be effective in it.

Q. (Inaudible.)
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, the last two years with sporadic occasional wind here and there, the last two years have not been what I wanted, but I can feel things are starting to turn a little bit, but whether it's this week or next week or two months from now, I can tell I'm getting it back to where I have been and where I want to be.

Q. Your creativity is legendary, so to speak, and to use your creativity and enjoy it, is that a little bit what's been going on?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it's a big part of it. Some of the shots we hit here we'll never have to hit in the States, a driver that carries 180, 200, just get it on the ground and get it running. We don't really have that need for the shot over in the States. It's fun to have to learn how to hit those effectively.

Q. It looked like you had three or four very short putts this week (inaudible.) Are you struggling with short putts?
PHIL MICKELSON: You know, I felt so much better with the putter heading in. I haven't putted as well as I expect to, but I'm putting better than I have in the past on these greens. So it's getting there. Hopefully it'll improve for the weekend.
But you're right, I missed a couple of short ones, but I made a couple ones. I made a par putt on 12 which really gave me some momentum for the rest of the round and kept me at even par and some momentum to make some birdies.

Q. (Inaudible.)
PHIL MICKELSON: Sure, I'd love to get an eagle. I would have loved -- I couldn't have hit a better shot. It couldn't have been an easier putt. But you know, I just missed it.

Q. There's a bit of debate about the American drought in major championships. Is that something you think about, and is it a bit of maybe extra motivation to get the U.S. back on the board?
PHIL MICKELSON: No and no.

Q. Talk about the weekend being right in the mix.
PHIL MICKELSON: It's fun to be in contention at any major, but it's fun for me to be in contention at the Open Championship because I haven't been here that often. I just saw a stat that I've only been in contention a few times heading into the weekend, and this is really a fun tournament. So to have a chance to be right in it, it's exciting.

Q. It's a few years removed now, but is there anything similar you go back to '04 on?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, and those are those low tee shots. I've just got to get the tee shot in play so that the miss isn't big and I always have a shot into the green.

Q. Are you surprised the scores did not get any lower today?
PHIL MICKELSON: No, it's difficult. And really what's happened and what I've noticed that the easy holes, like the holes you can get some shots, the pins have been in ridiculously hard spots, like No. 9 is a great example. Here we've got an L-wedge and a great shot is 20 feet. So I wish it would go the other way; I wish the hard holes would have the hard pin placements and the easy holes would have the easy pin placements, because then we'd have some birdies and we'd have a lot more bogeys and doubles.
But I don't set it up. It's not my job. It's my job to find an effective way to play it. But the way it's set up is going to lead to par, par, par, par. The hard holes have fair, easy pin placements and the easy holes ridiculously hard pin placements, so we don't see too many birdies other than maybe the par-5s.

Q. Do you think that's what makes links golf so unique?
PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not sure. I mean, I really enjoy the couple weeks that I come over here. I don't know where to go with that, but I certainly enjoyed last week and the fact that the Scottish Open is now on a links golf course. I really liked Castle Stuart. I thought it was one of the best golf courses I've seen, and I really look forward to going back and playing links golf there as well as the British Open.

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