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THE GREENBRIER CLASSIC

July 5, 2017

Phil Mickelson

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

THE MODERATOR: Okay, we'll get started.

We would like to welcome Phil Mickelson back to the Greenbrier Classic.

Phil, first of all, as a PGA TOUR ambassador now for the Greenbrier, just talk a little bit about what this place means to you. I know it's always meant a lot to you, but especially now what you're doing here at the Greenbrier

PHIL MICKELSON: I really love the association, I love spending time out here. I'm very impressed with the community involvement in getting this place ready to play and getting homes rebuilt with Neighbors Loving Neighbors, with the community support in this golf tournament, this golf course. It has been an impressive year I would say in overcoming the disaster.

I'm excited to have the TOUR back here playing. I'm excited to see the condition of the golf course. Just remarkable. It really is a real feat what has been done to get this course ready. It's going to a great week. Hopefully this rain will subside. Should clear up for the weekend and should have a great weekend.

THE MODERATOR: Let's talk about your season so far, You're No. 40 in the FedExCup standings. Your last start you finished tied for ninth, FedEx St. Jude Classic.

Just talk a little bit about your season up to this point and your goals the rest of the way.

PHIL MICKELSON: It's been an interesting year so far. I've played consistent but not to the level of where I want to get in the winners' circle, and so that's what I've been working on. Hopefully we'll finish the year strong.

I have been pleased with my overall play, but haven't really put it together for four rounds the way I expected.

THE MODERATOR: Great. Questions?

Q. How are you and your new caddie getting along so far?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, we've been together now for 40 years, which is as long as he's been around. It's been fun. We're excited to get started and excited have this week together.

Q. (No microphone.)
PHIL MICKELSON: That's the goal. My record here has not been stellar, but I've really gotten some good work in these last couple days in the one area I had struggled in the past, which is distance control with my irons.

Given the altitude being significantly higher then sea level, getting dialed in with the altitude and how different the ball flies for different trajectories. The higher you hit it the greater the percentage difference, and the lower you hit it the percentage decreases, so getting accustomed to that. I've had a chance the last two day getting adjusted to that, and I believe that's going to make a difference.

Q. Aside from your personal work with the area, the community, the golf course itself, from a season standpoint and career standpoint, how meaningful would it be to compete and ultimately possibly win at tournament?
PHIL MICKELSON: It would mean a lot to me because it's been a while since I have broken through and finally won. Last year I played well enough to win a few times and wasn't able to do it.

I feel like my game is at the level that I've been playing well enough to win, but I haven't had those results and put myself in contention the way I would like to. It would mean a lot to me of I were able to get it done.

Q. Obviously like tinker with the game. Is it almost like playing a brand new golf course this year with all the changes to Old White this year?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think that it is. The actual great thing about it is because the greens are new and because -- although they're rolling perfectly and they're pristine, the root system hasn't taken hold yet so the balls will release a little bit, and they'll play as though they were very firm even with the rain.

I think that will make the golf course fun to watch and challenging getting to some of these sections. I think it's going to really make for a great test of golf. It's going to play, even with the rain, like it's been firm and fast.

Q. Tim I know is there for the rest of the year. What's the long-term plan for you there?
PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not quite there yet. You know, I'm just focused on my next four or five months, seeing how it goes with Tim and excited about that opportunity to spend time with him, and I haven't really looked past yet.

Q. On this season, one of the things that happening with the Presidents Cup situation is five of the guys currently in the top 10 have never played for Team USA at all. Seems it'll be a changing of the guard. You still obviously have aspirations to be part of that. You feel like you could I guess mentor those guys through that event?
PHIL MICKELSON: It is a big goal of mine to make it on that team. I'm a member at Liberty National. I love the golf course. I love playing golf in the metropolitan area and would love nothing more than to be on that team and continue the streak.

After having received a captain's pick last time, I feel it's important I make it on my own. I've got six events to make this team. I've been working hard with my instructor to make be sure I'm swinging the way I need to.

So I've got six good tournaments, and I am going to be putting everything I can into it to get on that team.

I believe that our team, American golf team for the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cups are some of the strongest we've had. We have a lot of really good young talent, a lot of really great personalities that bring out the best in each other, and I would love to be a part of that.

Q. I know you talked at length about the relationship you and Bones had at the KPMG media day. Just focusing on the impact Tim can have for the rest of the season, what type of positive effect can he have on your game at this point in your career?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I'm hesitant to talk too much about anything because I'm so appreciative of the time I have had with Bones for 25 years that anything I say positively about what I'm looking forward to with Tim and so forth I feel would be taken as a shot at Bones. I don't want to do that. I have too much respect for him and our time together over the years.

The thing I would say is Tim is one of my favorite people. I love being around him. He's one of the people I respect the most, and throughout my career he's been so supportive of me. We've never had that kind of brotherly rivalry growing up. We're seven years apart.

We've bee nothing but support for each other throughout our lives. To have that type of friendship with my brother is something I really value, and this time together.

So I would say that after having not won for four years, knowing that my game is at a level that is good enough to win but not having done it, I think the one thing is an element of maybe being comfortable with my brother and maybe he gets me a little bit more relax and takes pressure off me and maybe I'll play my best that way.

There is no replacing Bones. It's phenomenal.

Q. No Tim there is no rivalry?
PHIL MICKELSON: We obviously have banter and so forth, but we've been nothing but supportive over the years. I think the world of him.

Q. With so many holes having influence from courses in Scotland, do you see that as you go around the golf course? And can you talk specifically about the 15th hole. Do you see any of the 11th from St. Andrews in it?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think that Seth Raynor has a lot of interesting characteristics that he's brought over from the U.K. in his designs, and the old style architecture where you don't have bulldozers. It's much more simplistic.

Talking about 15, the par-3?

Q. Correct. Supposed to be modeled after the 11th at St. Andrews. Just take us through how you play the 15th.
PHIL MICKELSON: I just try to hit the middle of the green. That's a tough par-3. It's about a 5-iron for me usually, and it's a hole I'm not thinking too. I'm trying to get in on the center of the green. The way the green kind of pulls the ball away from the edges towards the center makes it very difficult to get to those side pins, so I just try to put it on the center of the green.

Q. Go over Tim's background as it relates to golf.
PHIL MICKELSON: He's been a college golf coach for 15 years or so at USC and Arizona State. He has a great mindset for how to play a hole most effectively with five guys who have varying skill levels. He has a great idea how to see a golf course and play differently for a guy like Jon Rahm who can play at an elite level.

So he has good perspective on course management and overall view of a golf course, as well as how to play certain holes most effectively. He's a very top amateur player in his own right. He's had some strong finishes and qualifying for some USGA events and such. He's a very good player, too.

Q. I dare say he's mentored some pretty big names coming up through the college ranks. You mentioned Jon Rahm.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yes, that is obviously the biggest name, but he has good overall perspective on course management and how to play holes certain way. How to play them for par, how to play them for birdie.

I think the biggest thing for me is the fact that we enjoy being around each other so much we're going to have fun. We're going to have fun the last half of the season, and I play my best when I'm having fun.

Q. Average winning score here has been in the minus 15, 16 range, and that's including 22 with Appleby. We going to see that again or what?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't think so, and the reason is because the greens won't be holding as well, be tough to get close to a lot of the holes. This golf course has some really cool nuances. I will give you an example: The 18th green is a big green, but that thumbprint design creates a lot of small little sections that makes it tough to get close to the hole.

There are a lot of those subtleties and nuances throughout this golf course. When the greens are firm and you're not able to fly the ball to the hole and stop it, it makes it difficult to get to those small sections and make birdies.

So I don't see that. If I were to pick a winning score, it looks like 9- to 12-under would be my guess.

Q. Talking about that thumbprint, if they put the pin in there we're going to see a lot of action there, right? How many aces could be made there?
PHIL MICKELSON: That funnel effect inside that thumbprint, we could very well see some aces. It would be much like the 9th hole in the par-3 tournament at Augusta where balls funnel back down towards the hole. We could definitely see a couple of hole-in-ones there.

But when you put it outside the thumbprint it's a very small section and difficult to get to.

Q. What about today? Your playing partners today, what do you know build them?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I've got both senators from West Virginia and the Chief of Staff for Governor Justice, so this a very political day. I look forward to asking a lot of questions. I love having a chance to spend time with people that are so knowledgeable on a wide variety of topics.

I had a chance to play with Senator Manchin years ago when I first played here, and I ran into him earlier this week on Monday and we played together Monday over at the sporting club and spent the day there.

I really enjoyed my time with him, and I am looking forward to spending more time with him today, as well as the other senator and chief of staff.

Q. With the course now a little bit more of the old design, more straightforward, you think it's going to favor somebody that hits the ball a little straighter now as opposed to fading and drawing the ball?
PHIL MICKELSON: I certainly hope not. The thing about the Old White at TPC is that there are a lot of bunkers staggered at 45-degree angles. This is a great way to do design, where you visually see things at angles. It allows for great strategy of playing short of one bunker on the right, or past the bunker on the right but there is one up on the left, and so you change your lie entirely and the shot entirely depending on what your club selection is. That's just off the tee.

It's very difficult to do, but it shows the greatness in the design. Gives you multiple options off the tee, multiple options into the green. You look at the shots and how it changes given the pin placement on those greens. You're hitting a low cut to one pin and a high draw to another pin and your shot value and the shots that are required to play this course, even though it looks straighter, because of the green contours and such require some great shotmaking skills. Fun course to play.

THE MODERATOR: Phil finally, I know you hated missing the U.S. Open, but just a report on how the graduation went and how special that was for you.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, things went great with the graduation. In fact, Amanda is coming out and spending the weekend with me this week. This is really a fun place to bring your family, and so I'll have three days with her this weekend. It's time that I cherish, especially since she's going off to college soon.

THE MODERATOR: Perfect. Best of luck this week.

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