home jobs contact us
Our Clients:
Browse by Sport
Find us on ASAP sports on Facebook ASAP sports on Twitter
ASAP Sports RSS Subscribe to RSS
Click to go to
Asaptext.com
ASAPtext.com
ASAP Sports e-Brochure View our
e-Brochure

THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP


May 9, 2010


Phil Mickelson


PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

Q. You went through years and years as a marked guy. Every time you'd show up at majors, you'd be the best guy never to win. Tim Clark is one of the best guys out here without a win. Does that weigh on you after a while? I'm sure it must have weighed on you in some ways maybe you weren't even aware of.
PHIL MICKELSON: You know, it's been six years. I don't really remember how it made me feel. But I know that there was a great sense of relief when I got a good win in 2004.
I think that if Tim Clark ends up winning this tournament, boy, what a first win this is. That's just incredible playing and what a final round he will have shot.

Q. Can you comment on just how deterred you might have been by the course conditions?
PHIL MICKELSON: The course conditions were very difficult. It was exactly what I needed to be able to try to make a run at the leaders. Unfortunately I didn't take advantage of it, and I got off to a poor start. If you can make a couple birdies early on, and there's some early birdie holes I think, if I could have gotten a little more momentum for the round and maybe shot something in the 60s I could have made up some ground. The way it looks now, it wouldn't have been enough. But the conditions were exactly what I was hoping they would be, but unfortunately I didn't take advantage of them.

Q. The course seemed to change so much over a couple of days.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yes, it certainly underwent a huge change, and I thought, again, it was hoping what it would be today, but unfortunately I didn't take advantage of the opportunity that was there.

Q. Why didn't you lay up on 2? What was your thinking there?
PHIL MICKELSON: I didn't lay up. I hit an 8-iron, hit a driver, and only had 200 to the front. I was trying to just land an 8-iron just on, and it pulled up short. And unfortunately I didn't have a very good lie. I tried to hit a flop shot and couldn't get underneath the ball. But absolutely I wasn't laying up. I was in between 7 and 8, and I saw Zach's ball run all the way across the green, and I just felt like if I flew 7-iron into the green it would just bound right over and leave a very difficult up-and-down.

Q. What's your schedule from here?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I'll play Colonial and possibly Memorial. I'm thinking about that one, too. I've got a couple weeks off. I'll spend a little time practicing. I'll probably take this next week off, spend a little time practicing, and when I start Colonial that will really be my start through the U.S. Open. I'll play Colonial, possibly the Memorial and then I'll be practicing the week before the U.S. Open as well as the Open. In a couple of weeks I kind of start my run, so I'll take a little time off here.

Q. Are you going to pop up to Pebble and take a look before Colonial?
PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, yeah. Probably not before Colonial. I'll probably do it the week before. It's hard to get anything done a month before because the course isn't anywhere near what it will be.

End of FastScripts




About ASAP SportsFastScripts ArchiveRecent InterviewsCaptioningUpcoming EventsContact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297