PHIL MICKELSON: Last week -- there are a lot of courses on Tour that cap us off the tee at about 270. Now, my 3-wood goes a little bit longer than that and my 2-iron goes way short of that. 240 is my 2-iron. So I've got a 35, 40-yard gap between those clubs. When I added that 1-iron, I felt I could get that 265-yard distance that I was trying to hit and get it in proper position, and I will use that club a lot this year because that's where the fairway cuts off.
At the Hope I pulled out -- I'm sorry, at Bermuda Dunes, but the 1-iron was very effective at PGA West, because again, the number of holes seemed to cut you off at about 280, 290, so it was a perfect fit. I expect to be able to do that throughout the year.
To answer your question, I don't know how that really ties in, other than I looked for a club that went that yardage and I found it.
Q. That round last year, did you hit an iron off of every tee? He said you shot 3 or 4-under.
PHIL MICKELSON: Was this last week?
Q. No, a tournament last year.
PHIL MICKELSON: What I remember is at the Western Open I tried to hit a bunch of irons off tees and I remember I kept leaving them in the rough 40 yards behind where I was with driver and it just made a par impossible. I figured if I'm going to be in the rough, may as well get close to the green. But now I feel totally different with a driver. I don't know what my fairways hit were today, but I only missed two or three, so when you're playing from the fairway it's a lot easier to make birdie certainly.
Q. The 1-iron, when did you put it in the bag?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I pulled it out of the archives. It was a club that I played with in college.
Q. Did you use it today?
PHIL MICKELSON: No, I pulled it out this week. I pulled out a 4-wood. I have 17 clubs and I have to take 3 out. I took the 1 and 2-iron out and I wanted a 4-wood. I hit a 4-wood into 15. I anticipate hitting a 4-wood into 3, and there's a good chance I could hit 4-wood into 13, so it seems to be the right club. And off the tee I hit a lot of drivers here.
Q. Did you just play it pretty much like you played every other FBR/Phoenix Open today?
PHIL MICKELSON: Absolutely.
Q. But we'll see the ace more this year, you'll bring the 1-iron?
PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, yeah.
Q. Find a whole new facet of your game, in essence?
PHIL MICKELSON: Actually, you won't see it the next two weeks, because Pebble is so wet you don't get much carry. You don't see it in San Diego because there's too many drivers there. We'll see it at the Players Championship where fairways tighten up, rough is thicker. Anyway, courses like that, certainly I look forward to like the Open in windy conditions because it stays down better, like the Byron Nelson, stuff like that.
Q. How many players on Tour use the butter knife?
PHIL MICKELSON: I know Davis has one. That's about all I know. I haven't had one for ages. Shoot, I haven't had a 2-iron for a long time. The set that I use we made three years ago, and we made each head from scratch. Never even thought about making a 1-iron.
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Can we go through your birdies and bogeys?
PHIL MICKELSON: Okay. I started with a birdie on 15. I hit driver, 4-wood to 30 feet, two-putt.
17, I birdied. I hit driver right in front of the green to the right, chipped up to 8 inches and made that for birdie.
Birdied the first hole, hit 3-wood, gap wedge. It was my sand wedge for the day. I took out my normal sand wedge and put this in, kind of a strong sand wedge. Hit it to 12 feet, made it.
I hit that same sand wedge on the second hole to 30 feet and three-putted.
On 3, I hit driver into the bunker, 8-iron out and a pitching wedge to 12 feet and made that for birdie.
3, I hit 9-iron to six feet.
4, 9-iron to six feet.
5, driver, 8-iron to ten feet, made that.
6, I hit driver and sand wedge or gap wedge to six feet, made that.
I birdied the last hole, hit driver and that gap wedge to four feet, made that.
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thanks, Phil, for joining us.
End of FastScripts.
