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THE BARCLAYS


August 28, 2016


Phil Mickelson


Farmingdale, New York

PHIL MICKELSON: It was a good day. I've got a few things to work on. I'm going to head back home and kids start school on Wednesday. I'm going to go to the first day and I'll come back. I'll bring Andrew with me and we're going to get a few things worked on, because I didn't hit enough fairways to really be able to play Bethpage effectively. But I hit it well enough and I'm starting to putt well. I'm excited about next week. It's a course I've won on and that I like very much.

Q. What was the reaction to Rose putting the medal on 18?
PHIL MICKELSON: You have to do it. What's the whole point of winning the Gold Medal? You've got to flaunt it, right?

No, I think with that new USGA rule about counterbalancing and so forth, there's an issue with putting, but I'm going to leave that up to the USGA (laughter).

Q. You have a green jacket you can pull out --
PHIL MICKELSON: I have three. But it's a little hot out here. But I'm not allowed to travel with it.

Q. You're part of the task force. It looks like as of now, Zach wouldn't be in on points. How much have you talked to Davis about potential captain's picks and how much will you advise him?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, Davis has a pretty good beat on a lot of the things that the group and everybody has talked about, things that are important, to give us direction and to give us continuity and to take away some of the surprises that come up.

I think the picks are going to be dependent upon how they fit into kind of our four-man groups to be the most effective and give us the most options to play with.

So Zach brings so many intangibles, I would be surprised if he wasn't on the team.

Q. How much have you been following the scores, the other three spots --
PHIL MICKELSON: I haven't yet because I've been out playing. But the guys that are in the Top-12, and maybe even Top 15, because how well Furyk has been playing, and he had to sit out so much at the start of the year, all of those guys have a really good chance of making the team. And if they don't make it on points, they still have a great shot the next two weeks to show why they deserve to be on the team.

Q. When you look at guys like Jordan, Reed and Rickie, Koepka, Berger coming up, do you see a foundation for the next ten, 15 years?
PHIL MICKELSON: Sure. A guy like Spieth is going to be a mainstay for the U.S. Team for a number of years. He's been on three times now; this will be his fourth. It's time for him to take over a leadership role and help lead us to some victories.

Q. Have you cast an eye on what's happening with the European Team, with Darren having his three picks on Thursday? Who do you think may get a pick?
PHIL MICKELSON: For curiosity's sake, sure, because there's so many guys that bring a lot to the team that could be picks. And what's going to be surprising are the names, not that are picked, but the ones that are left off. Because there are going to be some guys that deserve or could bring a lot to the table that won't be a part of it.

Q. Tough decision.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it's always an issue but it's kind of like, the way I look at it is, I've known for years, I wanted to play in the Olympics this year and I've known for years what the criteria were. You have to be the Top 15, and whatever. I missed it by probably a week. But yet, I knew for years. I could have changed my schedule. I could have done some other things. Or I could have simply played better.

The fact is, if you don't make it on your own, then you need to bring a lot more to the table than just your game. Great thing about the game of golf is if you don't like where you're at, you can do something about it by simply playing better and shooting lower scores.

There's no judges here that are giving you scores that are subjective. It's all out there. Whatever your number is, just shoot it. Shoot a lower score than the other guy and you'll do pretty good. You might win.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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