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NORTHERN TRUST OPENFebruary 13, 2013Phil MickelsonPACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA MARK STEVENS:  Phil, if you want to talk about playing this week at the Northern Trust Open. PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I really enjoy Riviera golf course. It's one of the better ones we have on TOUR. It's a wonderful place to play and we have got a really strong field this year. I think that it's going to be a fun two days playing with Keegan Bradley and Bill Haas, the group that was in the playoff last year. And I always enjoy playing with both those guys. I've had a chance to get to know them on The Presidents Cup team, Ryder Cup teams, and we've really had a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the week. Q. Is this one of the three tournaments you look at the start of the year and say: Okay, let's get ready for that baby right there? PHIL MICKELSON: You know, it's funny how it's become that way and it's become one of my favorite tournaments on TOUR; given that for a number of years I didn't play here. I didn't play well early in my career and ended up choosing to play other tournaments. And when I came back in 2007, lost in a playoff to Charles Howell and won the following years, I quickly fell in love with the place and I started to appreciate it for its nuances what way wonderful course it is. Q. And the Amy Alcott factor? PHIL MICKELSON: She certainly helped; years ago we would walk around the Pro‑Am and talk about the breaks and why balls tended to feed towards certain areas. And it helped me read the greens and put effectively here. Q. Can you talk about your feelings from last year, the two putts that you and Keegan made on 18? PHIL MICKELSON: It was an exciting way to get into a playoff birdieing the last hole, knowing we had to make it 3. And when I made a putt and to see Keegan make it on top, that was just exciting golf. We had a lot of fun, and Bill Haas made a heck of a putt there on 10, that 50‑footer to win the tournament. But it was a fun event. I enjoyed the whole day. Q. Why weren't you comfortable here initially? What changed? PHIL MICKELSON: I really don't know. I don't know what it was. I've always liked the golf course from day one. I just never played it effectively and it was by pure chance in 2007 that I added the tournament when I missed the cut I think at the Hope, and played really well. Just played it effectively. Kind of understood the course. Putted well on the greens and ended up losing in a playoff and winning the following two years. I just seem to now enjoy the way the golf course plays, have an idea of how to play it effectively, as well as putt the greens well. Q. We tend to have bad weather out here this week, and it looks like it's going to be a fantastic week. How much does that effect how you challenge the course and in the past with wind and course and rain? PHIL MICKELSON: I think this is going to be a great thing for me because the greens here are small and with good weather, they are going to be firm. And that means to hit the greens, you're going to have to fly the ball high and soft. You don't have the luxury of landing the ball short here with the kikuyu grass. It will stay short. You have to fly it on the green and with the greens being firm, it's going to be difficult to get the ball close. There are very few gimmie birdie holes. With the exception the first hole, the par5, that's a par 4 1/2, there are very few holes that you expect to make birdie out here. You have to just play some good golf and be patient, and try to make some putts. Q. Did you have any residual effects Monday or Tuesday after your unfortunate slip at Pebble? That was a serious look; how lucky were you? PHIL MICKELSON: It looked worse than it was, because 30 seconds later I didn't feel a thing. I was more shocked than anything. Q. I was speaking as an old guy. PHIL MICKELSON: I got lucky. I could have certainly fallen poorly or fallen the wrong way. But I ended up okay. Q. This is five weeks in a row, how challenging is that? PHIL MICKELSON: I don't normally do that many weeks, as you know. But because two of the weeks I get to stay at home, this being one of them, it doesn't feel like it's an away game. It doesn't feel like I'm staying at a hotel away from my family. It feels like a home event. It's not a long commute. It takes me about an hour, 15, 20 minutes door to door. And it's fun to be able to go home, stay in my own bed and take the kids to breakfast a day or two before school and just feel like I'm in the normal routine. Q. You talked at Pebble about what you didn't do there, you said you wanted to maybe work on a couple things. What have you felt, especially today? PHIL MICKELSON: I had a really good two days of practice here after Pebble. I was a fraction off from Phoenix and I believe that it's back on track. And so I'm starting to hit the ball solid again and I'm really optimistic about the week. It should be good. Q. Is it mostly off the tee that you were concerned about? PHIL MICKELSON: No, the great thing, this is going to sound crazy but the great thing about last week for me was that I did both poorly. I drove it poorly, I had poor iron play. I hit them both the same, just as bad. The reason why that's important is there are times where I might hit my driver great and my irons poorly, or my irons great and my driver poorly. And when that happens, I've got two different swings I'm working on. My swing was off a little bit last week and I drove it poorly and my irons were every bit as bad, too. That's a good thing for me because if I get one fixed, I get them all fixed, and I feel like I'm striking the ball solid again now. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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