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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE INSURANCEMay 28, 2014Phil MickelsonDUBLIN, OHIO PHIL MICKELSON: Had a great two weeks. I really had a good couple of weeks back home. I had a chance to spend some time with Butch. I had a chance to spend some time with Dave Pelz. And I'm excited about these next three weeks. We'll see how it goes. My short game right now, which has not been great this year, is ‑‑ after spending a few days, it feels good. So I'm curious to see how it goes this week. Q. Have you gotten an opportunity to play Pinehurst yet? PHIL MICKELSON: No. And even with the course closed, you have to get a tee time. I guess there's so many people trying to play it. But I'll get out there Monday and Tuesday. Q. Your short game is always very good. What is the difference between always being very good and what you need to do better? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it's such a small difference between getting it inside three feet and getting inside six feet. It's just such a subtle little difference, but yet it's a huge important difference in scoring. And the touch and just reading the lie and getting it in contact just right, all those little things, it's the first thing to go when you're not playing well. And when you're not playing well, it's the last thing to work on. And right now my short game feels really sharp. So I'm curious to see‑‑ I won't know where exactly I stand, but I have a much better feeling about these coming two weeks before the Open than I've had in a long time. Q. Is it technique type of thing? PHIL MICKELSON: It's not so much technique, it's developing the touch‑‑ reading the lies, seeing the shot that you want to hit, and pulling it off. Q. You've really embraced this whole talk about trying to win the Open and winning it more than once even. Why is that, do you think? Why have you been so positive, and how much did Muirfield play a role in that? PHIL MICKELSON: I just think it's easier to be honest and up front about what I'm feeling and going through than it is to try and deny it, which is why, when I lose, I talk about how tough it is. Because it is. It's challenging. Like it was the biggest defeat‑‑ I had such a down moment after losing at Merion. The same thing at Winged Foot. And it's easier, rather than trying to put on a front or trying to deny what's playing out in my head, just to be honest. And what I'm feeling is that there's such a difference in the way I view the few major champions that have won all four, the guys that have won all four, I view in a different regard. And I'm fortunate and I'm honored to be part of that long list of great players that have won three of the four. That's great. But it would mean a lot to me ‑‑ I would look at myself, I would look at my career, which is all I care about, in a whole different light if I were able to get that fourth one. Q. After Merion, you were pretty honest about how tough that was. And I think you might have even said that you had a hard time getting out of bed for a day or two, what have you. But yet you figured out a way to bounce back from it so fast. How did you get that sorted so quickly? That could have been one that lingered. PHIL MICKELSON: Part of it is being honest with it, being honest about it, like I was saying, because if you try to deny it and try to act like it doesn't hurt and that it's no big deal, well, you're just lying to yourself. It stung, and you just do what you have to get over it. And it took me a few days to kind of ‑‑ we had a great trip planned in Montana, so I only got three days in bed before I had to get up and do something. But I probably would have moped around for a little while. And instead what I was able to come to the conclusion is that I'm playing really good golf and don't let it affect the potential outcome of some of the upcoming events. That's what really got me to refocus on the future and the upcoming majors and at the British. Q. Short of winning, what do you need to do these two weeks going into Pinehurst? PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not worried about results as much as I am getting the game sharp. But I do think the results are going to come if I just play well. I'm not worried about finishing first or second or top ten or what have you, but building momentum, building confidence in my game over the next couple of weeks. Now, I do feel after the last ten days of practice that my game is sharper than it has been all year. If I don't have the results, I've got to look at something else. Because I feel like I've done what I needed to do to get my game sharp. And now, because I haven't had the outcome or the results that I wanted this year, I need to have some results to give me some confidence. Even though that's not where I want to focus. Q. Considering how much you embraced the Open and what it means to your legacy, do you feel any more added pressure going into the U.S. Open? PHIL MICKELSON: I don't. Because some people view it as though he's come close and he's never done it. I see it as though I've finished second six times in this event, I played some of my best golf in this event, and that I should have an opportunity, and more than one opportunity, to close one out here in the future. Q. I asked Bubba yesterday about no left‑hander winning here. He said that's because there's more righties. From the standpoint of ‑‑ are there harder shots here for the left‑handers? What particular part of your game do you have to be on to master this course? What's different for you? PHIL MICKELSON: When I see the course, I see great movement of shots ‑‑ left‑to‑right, right‑to‑left‑‑ and I see some shots that I feel comfortable with and I see some shots that I feel very uncomfortable. And I think everybody, right‑handed or left‑handed players, will feel the same way probably at different points on this course. I don't have a good answer for you as to why no left‑handed players won here. I guess we haven't had a great number of good left‑handed players on our TOUR until recently. Now we've got some good ones. And I think it's just a matter of time. Q. Is there one part of your game that needs to be on or all parts of your game need to be on to win here? PHIL MICKELSON: Gotta drive the ball well here. It's hard to recover from here. And your short irons need to be sharp because you've got to make a lot of birdies here. But then you also have to have your long irons and hybrids strong because you're hitting those into the par 5s. And the greens are so pure and around the hole there's not a lot of movement that you can really make some putts. So it's one of those where you've got to be in attack mode and really ride it up, I feel. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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