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

VALERO TEXAS OPEN


March 26, 2015


Phil Mickelson


SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

PHIL MICKELSON:  Certainly as the day went on the wind died down.  Also as you got lower on the golf course, it was sheltered.  It wasn't anywhere near as bad as the driving range.  The driving range was the high point.
It was a difficult day.  I scored well today.  I was able to get up and down a lot and to make a lot of pars and enough birdies to offset a couple of bogeys.

Q.  Is there any way you could hazard a guess on what the stroke difference was between the morning round and the afternoon round?
PHIL MICKELSON:  I can't.  Because I wasn't really out here that early, I wasn't seeing what they were playing.  It looked really tough.  This stuff happens.  It's nice, selfishly, to be on the good end of the tee times, because it certainly happens when you're on the bad times.
But that's terrible, especially in a major championship when you care so much.  But it happened.  It's part of the game.

Q.  (Inaudible.)
PHIL MICKELSON:  Well, I thought the Tour staff did a great job of moving the tees way up on the holes that were into the wind and putting pins into an area that wasn't too tough around the edges of the greens.  I thought that it was very playable for as difficult as the conditions were out there.  But it was still an extremely, extremely tough golf course.

Q.  Was there a key hole for you today?
PHIL MICKELSON:  I didn't feel like there was any one particular hole.  I missed my first two drives a little bit right and after that I was able to keep it in play and not hit it in too bad of spots.  That's the key out here, because the fairways are wide, but if you miss the fairway you're in some really bad stuff.  And in this wind it's easy to do.  The misses get magnified, it's easy to get some bad spots.  But the key wasn't one hole, as much as it was keeping the ball in play.

Q.  (Inaudible.)
PHIL MICKELSON:  It's the best I've scored.  I feel like I'm not playing any differently, except that mentally I was much sharper, I was able to salvage all the strokes around the greens and post a good number, which is ultimately all that matters in this game.
But the first few months of the year my game hasn't felt any better or worse, it just mentally I haven't been as sharp.

Q.  Were you surprised when that club broke?
PHIL MICKELSON:  Yes, it was weird, the shaft broke just above the hosel.  It was just a weird thing.  It happens.  It's part of the game, I guess.  You hit enough shots it's going to work out.

Q.  That was the comedic moment of the round so far.
PHIL MICKELSON:  What was that?

Q.  The club head.
PHIL MICKELSON:  I'm glad you thought it was funny (laughter.)  I'm curious at what point on the downswing it came off, if it was right before impact or right at impact or what, because the shot didn't come off very well.

Q.  (Inaudible.)
PHIL MICKELSON:  I would have used it the next three holes.  The par 3 downhill.  And I feathered a little 7‑iron all three times.

Q.  It was an 8‑iron?
PHIL MICKELSON:  Yes.

Q.  Did the course and these conditions help you for a major like the Masters?
PHIL MICKELSON:  These conditions right now aren't really helping for Augusta.  They would help for the British, certainly.  It's supposed to be really nice this weekend.  When it's nice I think it's going really a fun, fun tournament to watch and a fun one to play in because I think there's a lot of birdie holes.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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