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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 16, 2011

Phil Mickelson

SANDWICH, ENGLAND

Q. You're still right there.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it was a fun day. It was certainly challenging with the rain. We got lucky. I think the guys that played late got really lucky, myself included, that it went away right around the turn for me, and we went from really fighting for pars on every hole to thinking birdies on some.

Q. (Inaudible.)
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it was a fun challenge. You know, it was -- I enjoyed it, and had I been able to salvage two short putts, I could have been right around par, and in that stuff that would have been really great. But I let a couple of those slide away and fought back the last eight holes to make a few birdies to get right back in it. I mean, I think even par is certainly -- certainly I've got to do something really good tomorrow. I've got to shoot something under par, I'm just not sure how low.
It's fun for me to come over here and have a chance on Sunday.

Q. When you're in a situation like that and you know you have to make up some important ground tomorrow, do you become a little more aggressive?
PHIL MICKELSON: At times, sure. At times I'll have to pick my spots. Early on, though, there's some tough holes, namely 3 and 4. Those are the two really difficult holes. When 3 plays in a crosswind to get it in that little alley is difficult, and 4 into the wind is tough. So you try to make pars there. But there's some opportunities. You can birdie 1, you can birdie 2, 5 downwind, you hit a good tee shot, you make birdie there. But it doesn't really happen until you get to about 7. Once you get past 7 and past 8, there's some really good opportunities out there to make birdies.

Q. What was the most fun shot you hit?
PHIL MICKELSON: The most fun shot that I hit today? It was probably the chip shot on 9, and I hit a poor second shot, I caught it a little thin, it went over the green, and the pin was in a low area, really a great pin, it's just what I was hoping on an easy hole like that. There was probably a lot of birdies there. Somebody may have even holed one out.
But just over the green, I had to just creep it up over the ridge, and as it was trickling down, it took five seconds or so for the ball to roll out, and it looked like it was going to go in the whole way, and it just kind of rung around the lip. But that was one of the most fun shots I had.

Q. I'm sure it's going to be breezy for you tomorrow. I don't think as bad as it was today, but what is out there score-wise?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I think the real factor is the rain. The wind you can still play the course and still make some birdies. It's the rain that is, I think, causing a problem, causing a problem holding onto the club, getting in between the face, causing some balls to kind of shoot and knuckle off the tee. So it just depends on if there's rain with the wind. If there's wind, I still think you can shoot 4- or 5-under par like guys did the first couple days.

Q. What was the worst of the conditions today? Did you have some conditions early?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah.

Q. Talk about that.
PHIL MICKELSON: It was horrible.

Q. Dustin had a really nice round today. When we talk about playing links golf, is that surprising?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't think so because this course, although there's a lot of holes you can play along the ground off the tee, most of the holes on the front you have to carry. So you have to hit a shot on 2 over the bunkers, you have to hit a shot on 4 over the bunkers. You're trying to drive it over the hill on 5 over those mounds. On 7 you've got those mounds you're trying to drive it over. The entire time the longer and higher you hit it, the better off you are on a lot of those holes.
So his length is allowing him to take advantage of the holes that are reachable with the wind, and he's making birdies. I played a practice round with him, on 17 he drove it on the green. So you give him a little bit of helping wind and he can hit the ball over 400 yards.

Q. Talk about his talent. He's obviously been down mentally. Is this what he needs?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, given the way he's played the first three days I don't think you can go against that, I think absolutely. Plus the fact that he's been there before and he knows what hasn't worked for him, and then he also knows what has worked for him in some tournaments, and I think he'll be more ready than ever to play.

Q. What were the clubs today on the par-5s?
PHIL MICKELSON: On 7, I hit driver to the right and 3-wood short about -- it was 54 yards, and I chipped up to about three feet.
And then 14, I hit a good drive and a 3-wood just short of the green and chipped up to three feet.

Q. What did you think of young Tom?
PHIL MICKELSON: I really like his game. You know, he's got a wonderful golf swing, rolls the ball really well on the greens. He didn't play -- he didn't score the way he had been scoring the first couple days, and I know that he was disappointed. But I thought -- you could see that he's got a lot of game.

Q. If he were to turn pro and miss the Walker Cup, what would you think of that?
PHIL MICKELSON: It's not for me to say. I think everybody as an individual in this game has to figure out what works best for them, and for me to say is not really my place.

Q. Are you excited that you've given yourself a chance here?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, very. Yeah, very excited. I mean, there's nothing more exciting than on Sunday having a chance in a major. Now, I know that I'm not leading, but I'm also right there. I know I'm right there, and if I play a good, solid round of a couple under par, I don't know how many, it might have to be 6, might only have to be 2, depends on the weather, if I can get it under par, I'm going to have a good chance tomorrow. To me that is so much fun, and I'm excited. I feel like it's my first time over here.

Q. Everybody has always talked so much about you and the British, what would it mean to you to close one out?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it would be cool, but we shouldn't go into that yet. We've got a lot of golf left.

Q. When you see Watson still doing what he's doing --
PHIL MICKELSON: You know, if we had weather like we had this morning the entire tournament, I don't know who's going to beat him. He hits the ball so solid, he plays links golf, he hits a low, penetrating running shot so well and controls his distance through his trajectory, it's really impressive to watch. He was behind me the first couple days and I'd watch him hit approach shots because he just knows how to do it here. If we had bad weather like we had this morning, he played in the worst of it, and I think he shot about as well as anybody did, and I think he'd be tough to beat.

Q. Did you see it on TV?
PHIL MICKELSON: I saw a little bit.

Q. He looks likes he enjoys it, which is probably the vibe you were trying to create?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, you've got to be fun and accept the fact that making pars on these holes is a very tough task.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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