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ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP


January 16, 2014


Phil Mickelson


ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Q.  Your first competitive round for a couple of months, 17 pars and a bogey, how do you feel about that?
PHIL MICKELSON:  It was rusty.  I didn't strike the ball very well.  My swing, it feels a little rusty, but the short game was pretty good.  I hit some good pitches around the greens, and although I didn't make very many putts, I felt good with the putter.  And I'm hopefully trying to just work my way into this tournament.
You know, this first round, I was a little tentative, played a little cautious, didn't trust my swing too much.  I haven't been out in competition in a while.  And it was a good way to get my feet wet there.  I didn't make a birdie, unfortunately, but didn't really make a bogey there till the last.

Q.  Try to describe to our viewers just how brutal this rough is.
PHIL MICKELSON:  Well, you've got to be careful.  I kind of hurt myself going after one.  You know, when you go really hard into it and it grabs your club, you just kind of‑‑ your body jars up, and I kind of twinged my back there on that last hole.  And you've got to be careful and maybe just kind of wedge out and not risk any injury.  But it's extremely thick and you need to get a lot of loft just to get it out to the fairway.

Q.  How strategic is this golf course, bearing in mind that situation?
PHIL MICKELSON:  Well, you've got to get the ball in play off the tee.  There's no other way around it.  I hit a lot of 3‑woods today, tried to get it in play, didn't hit as many as I need to.  I may need to fall back and hit hybrids just to get the ball in the fairway because you can't get in the rough.

Q.  Will you be contacting Mr.Harmon?
PHIL MICKELSON:  Yeah, we've got some work to do. We spent some time last week but my swing didn't feel where I want it to be but that's why we come out here in nice weather, good practise facilities and a beautiful week to work on it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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