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BUICK INVITATIONAL

February 15, 2004

Phil Mickelson

LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA

PHIL MICKELSON: That's the last thing on my mind. I played great this weekend. I made a lot of birdies today on a course that was playing extremely tough, with pin placements that were brutal. I made nine birdies. I had a lot of luck and played very well to do so. I wished I could just get back one or two shots, I think it might have been enough to do it.

Q. (Inaudible)?

PHIL MICKELSON: It was a wonderful day. I mean, I played exceptional. I couldn't believe how fortunate on a lot of shots I was to have the ball end up close to some of these pins. I hit a lot of great shots. I birdied 8 of the first 11 holes. I don't know what to say. I just played exceptional.

Q. The part on 16

PHIL MICKELSON: It was tracking as well as the ones that went in on 17 and 18. It looked like it was going to be right in the heart and it stayed up a little high and caught a lot of lip. There were other shots out there that I left, but only one or two short. It's tough, but after starting the day nine shots back, I really felt like if I can get on a roll and make a lot of birdies, I can maybe make a run at the lead, which I did for a while. Unfortunately I did not know how close I was to the lead when I made the club selection on 12.

Q. Being a leader here coming down the stretch, knowing what you have to do and being the guy who sits back and kind of hope

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't think with five guys ahead of you, they're all go to come back, especially with 18 being a birdie hole. The only thing I can say is that I played awfully well. I made a nice run at the lead. I made some good par saves, on 15, made a great par putt on 17, and a great long birdie putt on 18. I just wish in the interim with all those birdies, I let a few shots go by.

Q. (Inaudible)?

PHIL MICKELSON: On 12, I had a 199 yard 200 yard shot. And normally I would have just hit a cut 5 iron to the middle of the green, 30 feet. After 11, I tried to find a leaderboard and I couldn't see it because it was so low, I figured 14 was leading and I needed to make four more birdies. As it turned out I only needed to make one. I tried to hook a 6 iron in there instead of cutting a 5 to the middle, and ended up overhooking it and making double. It was just poor execution, but not knowing where I stood altered my club selection.

Q. (Inaudible)?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I knew I had to make a ton of birdies today and I knew with the pin placements, that it was going to be very improbable to make a lot of birdies. To make nine today, I couldn't be more pleased. When you attack a lot of pins, you're going to open yourself up to some bogeys.

Q. (Inaudible)?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I've enjoyed playing every round this year. I've loved playing golf this year. I've been waiting for this year, and to be playing well, it certainly is the most enjoyable round this week, because I didn't play the best the first two rounds. This weekend, I played very well to shoot 8 under par and give myself a shot. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be one or two shots.

Q. You said Friday you had a feeling you found something, like you were going to be able to come back.

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I felt like the last couple of holes on Friday, I made a few good swings. It felt close. Even on the first few days I didn't play well, it felt very close. I knew if I just made the cut, I'd have a good chance this weekend to turn things around and play well, and sure enough, I did strike the ball very well yesterday, shot 3 under par and made nine birdies today.

End of FastScripts.

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