Tag: Phil Mickelson

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PGA Tour: Phil Mickelson Talks Defending Title at 2020 AT&T Pro-Am

KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, SAUDI ARABIA - FEBRUARY 02: Phil Mickelson of the United States of America tees off on the 17th hole during Day 4 of the Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club on February 02, 2020 in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and defending AT&T Pro-Am champion Phil Mickelson addresses the media prior to beginning his 2020 title defense and touches on the recent and highly debated R&A distance report.

PGA Tour: Phil Mickelson speaks with the media prior to 2020 AT&T Pro-Am

JOHN BUSH: We’ll get started. We would like to welcome our defending champion into the interview room, Phil Mickelson. Making his 4th start at this event and he’s a five-time winner. Phil, if we get comments on being back at Pebble Beach.

PHIL MICKELSON: Good morning, guys. And I love being back here and it looks like it’s going to be a little bit different style of play and golf that we’re used to where the courses are much firmer and faster. We’re not going to get any rain it looks like this week, so it’s going to be an exciting week I think and should be fun.

JOHN BUSH: Talk to us a little bit about the state of your game coming in.

PHIL MICKELSON: So I had a good week last week where I finally got some results and started to score a little bit better. I didn’t get off to the greatest start on the AmEx or Farmers, but I felt like I was playing well, but you wasn’t scoring well, I wasn’t thinking very well through the round and visualizing and all that stuff and that seemed to get a lot better last week and I’m hoping to build on that.

JOHN BUSH: Pretty cool deal this week. As we all know, you play with the silver coin from your grandfather here at Pebble Beach. All of the amateurs this year are getting a replica coin from the tournament. Just talk a little bit about how that whole process started and your thoughts on that.

PHIL MICKELSON: So it’s, this place here in Monterey, Pebble Beach has been a very special place to our family because my grandfather was one of the original caddies in the caddie yard. And he had to quit school in fourth grade to help work and support the family. And he always felt poor and he would carry around this silver dollar here that I have. It’s from 1900, it’s an old Morgan head silver dollar that he would leave in his pocket. He would reach in and touch whenever he felt poor and it made him feel like he had money. And so he often times would go to bed hungry and not eat because he wouldn’t spend it. He just wanted to always feel like he had it. And so our family’s come a long ways as we look back at him caddieing here for 35 cents a loop to now winning seven figure checks and having my brother with me and so forth and what this great game of golf has given our family for the last couple generations. So we’re very appreciative. The fact that the tournament made a replica of kind of showcasing my five wins in the same size and shape as the Morgan head silver dollar is pretty special. I have one with me. I’ll probably carry both because I think they’re kind of cool and it reminds me that I’ve had some success here. But my grandfather’s coin means a lot to me because it just shows how far we have come as a family.

JOHN BUSH: Open it up to questions.

Leaderboard & Tee Times: 2020 AT&T Pro-am

Q. Nobody wants to ask the first question, so you know how that goes. Do you feel like you have momentum coming off the Saudi Arabia?
PHIL MICKELSON: I feel like the area that I was struggling in is better. So I have felt coming into this year that a lot of the physical areas of my game have been addressed. I was really excited about how I was playing. And then I get on the golf course and I start not seeing what I want to have happen but more what I don’t want to have happen. And the same thing started last week where the pro-am, I hit 12 out of 14 fairways and the very first hole I missed the fairway with a 2-iron and the second hole I hit driver right in the middle of the lake and make double. And my inability to kind of control my thoughts was getting the best of me the first few weeks. And I was able to identify the problem and then fix it and start to control my thoughts a little bit better, control my visualization, and I hit a lot of good shots thereafter.

Q. Different subject, but you definitely need to, I think, weigh in on it because you like to hit bombs.
PHIL MICKELSON: I do.

Mickelson addresses USGA & R&A distance report

Q. The distance report that the USGA and R & A came out with, what’s your reaction to it and do you think that there is, A, a possibility of them, the two governing bodies, doing something or B, the PGA TOUR reacting in some way to either reign in the ball or make sure it isn’t reined in.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I don’t know. I didn’t really read anything tangible from the report. I only saw that they were, they didn’t want each generation to continue getting longer and longer. I also don’t feel that you should punish the athletes for getting better. I don’t think that we have had massive equipment changes. We have just had athletes that have been able to take advantage of the equipment more so than in the past. And I hate to see that discourage. You look at what Bryson has done getting in the gym, getting after it, lifting weights, and hitting bombs, and now he’s — now you’re talking about trying to roll it back because he’s made himself a better athlete. So I don’t know if I agree with that. But I also don’t really understand the whole scope of how it affects the game and how it affects agronomy and golf courses and so forth, so I’m not sure I’m the best one to really comment on it. I just know from the small little bubble of the PGA TOUR, I hit a seeing the athletes be punished or discouraged from continuing to work and get better.

Q. Back to that first topic. I would think for you someone who has pulled off so many high-risk shots over the years that you see fairway and not trees and green and not water, how do you get into negative thinking, if that’s the right phrase, and what did you do to fix it?
PHIL MICKELSON: So it happens to all of us and you see it often times with guys that are playing great the first three rounds and then the final round they shoot something in the mid-70s and they just aren’t able to recapture their thoughts and they start letting thoughts about what they don’t want to have happen creep in and not be able to redirect their thoughts to what they want to have happen. And certainly because I’ve played poorly now for the last year it was becoming more and more of a challenge. But once I identified it, because I’ve already fixed the physical aspects and I’m hitting the ball really, really well, it’s been much easier to gain control of that. So it’s a process. Like, winning and playing well is a process and I feel like last year was a big step in my process to getting back to playing my best.

Q. I have two questions, actually. First, you talked about your grandfather and obviously every year it’s an issue here on players on TOUR coming here and the quality of the field. You’ve always embraced this event. Is it because of the family connection, because you played well here, why has this been a no-brainer for you?
PHIL MICKELSON: So early in my career I did miss it a few times, but as I got older I realized what an important event this is in developing kind of a relationship with a lot of the decision makers and key players in the game of golf and developing these kind of emotional connection that leads to better decisions as far as supporting the game. It gets companies and CEO’s more inclined to support the game of golf. It creates a relationship and fan experience between players and celebrities and so forth. And I think that this week, along with the AmEx, the two events in all of sports that allow amateurs to play alongside the professionals in the actual competition, is a unique experience that needs to be taken advantage of. Now, it’s also not for everybody. So I understand when guys don’t want to do it, it’s not for everybody. A lot of guys feel like look I only have so many number of weeks a year to compete and it is a, it’s difficult for me to play my best when I’m interacting with a lot of people and so forth. So some people, it’s just not for, and I respect their decision. But for me I’ve always enjoyed it and actually have played some of my best golf when I’m partnered with very interesting players. And I’ve been partnered the last few years, I’ve had a chance to play alongside Jimmy Dunne in the same group. And there’s nobody that I view more as an American hero than Jimmy Dunne for what he did in dedicating profits from his company for the next two years following the 911 tragedy, whereby every other company in the World Trade Center followed suit. I think he’s led by example. There’s nobody that I look up to or respect more in this entire country than Jimmy Dunne and for me to have these days with him, to ask questions and spend time with him, is what brings out some of the my best golf, because I’m having so much fun.

Q. Unrelated question. I know you’ve been asked before, but turning 50 this year and state of your game, you mentioned sort of getting over the poor play from last year. What’s realistic? What can you do at age 50, which historically not many players have won or done well on this TOUR at that age.
PHIL MICKELSON: So I, what I believe, I still need to show. Like, I believe I can play at an extremely high level, I just need to show it. Physically, I’m swinging the club better, more on plane, striking it more solid, hitting the ball longer, swinging the club faster than I have in many, many years. But there’s a lot more to winning than just hitting bombs, and I’m trying to put all those pieces together and I’m enjoying the challenge. So I don’t know if I can answer that directly. I would rather just show what I believe is possible and have a great year.

Q. How has what you consider hitting bombs changed? What was the distance or what did you consider a bomb back when you first came out here versus what it is today?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don’t know if it really compares to back when I first came out. The way I view it is to — you can win on the PGA TOUR not hitting the ball long. You can out-putt, you can out-strike, you can have great weeks and win golf tournaments without being the longest guy or without overpowering a golf course, but you cannot dominate the sport without speed. You might be able to do it for a year or two, but you can’t out-perform everyone consistently without clubhead speed, because there’s no substitute for speed in this game. It allows you to put more spin on the ball, it allows you to hit the ball longer, make carries come in higher and softer into the greens. It allows you to do more with a golf ball than if you don’t have speed and the best players in the world are going to have to have speed. So there’s no substitute.

There is a point, in my opinion, of diminishing return at about 182 mile an hour ball speed, which is going to equate to about 122 mile an hour clubhead speed. You usually have about a 1.5 smash factor, 150 percent energy transfer. It’s a little bit less the faster you swing the ball. But 182 mile an hour ball speed with a driver, you start going faster than that, you start losing a little bit of control and it almost has a diminishing return and that’s why, that’s, you’ll find all the top guys right in that area. I was struggling to get 170. I was struggling to get to 170 mile an hour ball speed. For me to hit 182, 183 now is, I can do it at will. So that doesn’t hold me back. Now what’s holding me back are some of the other areas. Maybe my iron play hasn’t been as great, my putting hasn’t been as great, maybe my accuracy could be better. Well, that’s not maybe, that could be. But the those areas I’m also addressing, but if I didn’t have the speed to start with, it wouldn’t even give me a fair chance. So hitting bombs is flying the ball 315 and getting 182 ball speed with ideal launch conditions.

Q. And when would you say you made such a concerted effort to keep up with these younger guys that were hitting it longer than you?
PHIL MICKELSON: Why did —

Q. No, when.
PHIL MICKELSON: A couple years ago. It took me probably a year before I overnight had five, six miles an hour more clubhead speed. You know, I was struggling to swing 115. I think that was kind of my average clubhead speed. Now it’s easily over 120. If I need to get to 122, 123 I can at will. And that’s an important part for me to feel like I’m not at a disadvantage before I even tee off. Now I still have to go do all the other parts, and that’s been a challenge too, but I couldn’t start until I had the speed.

Q. Following up on your sort of athletes versus technology and difference, how much farther do you hit the ball at 49 than you did at 21, 22 and how would you quantify how much is athleticism and how much is the technology?
PHIL MICKELSON: So my numbers might be fractionally off, but in 1993 or 1994 I was 25th in driving distance at 269 and in 2003 I was 25th in distance at 299, so there’s a 30-yard difference there. And I’ve jumped up a little bit in the last few years from 2003. I’m averaging just over 300, I don’t know, 303, 307, something like that. And that is equating to just training and swinging the club faster. I’ve always been right around 25th in distance, give or take, and I’m back to that area, I would say. But in that jump, I would say a big, a majority of that jump was that golf ball when we went from the wound ball to the solid core. That was a big deal because what happened was the longer guys with more speed, the stronger guys, would swing that wound ball and it would just over spin. It would spin 34-, 3,500 RPM. It’s not that the ball came off slower, it just had so much drag in the spin. And when we created that solid core technology we were able to reduce the spin and increase the launch and also perimeter weight the ball, so that made a big difference too because it wasn’t curving as much and that allowed guys to hit it the same speed off the face, but get rid of 12- to 1,500 RPM’s of spin and reduce the drag and get the ball to fly right through the air. That’s been the biggest difference.

Q. Also related to the project report, there was a suggestion to study the possibility of a local rule which would allow tournaments to use equipment that, where the ball wouldn’t go as far and the clubs wouldn’t go as far. Any reaction to how that, what you think of that?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think the best players will still find ways to win. They might not do it by overpowering the golf course with driver, but they will find ways to do it with their iron play or what have you. I think the best players will always kind of find a way to win and do what it takes. I struggle with some of our governing bodies. I struggle with it because we’re the only sport, we’re the only professional sport in the world that is governed by a group of amateurs, and that leads to some questionable directions that we go down. I wish that we had people that are involved in the sport professionally to be in charge a little bit more.

Q. Looking back, can you recall, when you left here on Monday having won, what was your outlook for the rest of the year and when did it kind of start going, did you feel that it started kind of going south on you?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, after I won last year, I knew I was going to go out and just crush the rest of the year, and the rest of the year crushed me. Kind of reversed it. I did not play well, I didn’t play up to my level of expectation, and it just kind of snowballed and got worse. But this is a different year and I’ve had a great off season and a lot of good things have happened in the last three, four months and I’m very excited for the year. I know that I didn’t get, the first two weeks didn’t go as planned, but the rest of the year is going to be very good.

Q. What happened last year? Why did you get crushed?
PHIL MICKELSON: Just the ups and downs of a career and play and I just kind of lost some focus and direction and now I have it back.

Q. Whether it’s later this year, three years from now, seven years from now, do you have any interest in the Champions Tour? How do you view that long-term?
PHIL MICKELSON: So a lot of the guys on the Champions Tour are friends of mine, people I really enjoy being around. I appreciate all that they did for me starting. When I started out my career, they were just ahead of me, and guys I really enjoy being around. If I — I don’t want to hurt the Champions Tour in any way and if not playing the Champions Tour is going to hurt it, I’ll play a couple of events. I’ll probably play one, two or three events a year because I want to support it, I want it to be successful, I don’t want to hurt it or be detrimental to it in any way. But I feel like to be successful on a TOUR you have to commit entirely to that one TOUR. So if it’s either going to be the PGA TOUR or the Champions Tour, I don’t see me oscillating back and forth, and, until I’m ready to go one or the other. And I’m not saying I’m not going to play the Champions Tour right now. I’m just saying that I believe the next six months are going to be really good and encouraging for me to play out here because this motivates me to compete against the best players in the world. That drives me to get in the gym, it drives me to work hard on the range, it drives me to spend time on the putting green. And I’m not sure I would have the same passion and drive to be my best on the Champions Tour, but I have it out here and so right now it’s starting to bring out the best in me and I want to play out here.

Q. Building off that, the first tournament you would be eligible for would be the U.S. Senior Open the week after the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Any interest in playing there and would winning a U.S. Senior Open bring a certain level of satisfaction to you?
PHIL MICKELSON: None whatsoever. No.

Q. For playing it or satisfaction?
PHIL MICKELSON: Both.

Q. Kind of along those lines, you had such a long stretch of all the cups and qualifying for them without being a pick for a long time. How much pride or how much of you does not want to need want to rely on an exemption for the U.S. Open this year?
PHIL MICKELSON: I won’t accept it. So I am either going to get in the field on my own or I’ll have to try to qualify. I’m not going to take a special exemption.

Q. Why not? You would probably be eligible for at least a couple of them, I would think, just given what you’ve done in the game. Why wouldn’t you?
PHIL MICKELSON: I just won’t.

Q. I would ask a follow-up, if I had one, but… Please? What’s, is it a, you know, a conflict with the USGA or is it just strictly pride or what?
PHIL MICKELSON: No, I just — they have never been an organization that likes to give out exemptions, special exemptions. I don’t want a special exemption. I think I’ll get in the tournament. If I get in, I deserve to be there. If I don’t, I don’t. I don’t want a sympathy spot. If I am good enough to make it and qualify, then I need to earn my spot there.

Q. Do you see it as a sympathy spot or a reward for greatness over a long time, which they have done, whether it was?
PHIL MICKELSON: I see it as the former and I don’t want that.

Q. You see it as sympathy. Okay. Last time you qualified was Cherry Hills? I feel like it was — I feel like there was a qualifier at Denver somewhere. Didn’t you get hosed on having to come back the next morning when you were probably about 21?
PHIL MICKELSON: That year was Baltusrol, I think in ’93, where I lost in a playoff maybe.

Q. Yeah. A three-for-one spot or something?
PHIL MICKELSON: Something like that, in Ohio, and I didn’t qualify there. And I think I’ve been in every one since and I don’t know if I qualified, had to qualify in ’94 or not. That was at Oakmont. I thought I might have just gotten in there after.

Q. I kept thinking there was a story where you had to come back on the next morning to finish the playoff.
PHIL MICKELSON: That was in ’93, I believe.

Q. Some guy holed a 40-foot putt —
PHIL MICKELSON: That’s it, yeah.

Q. With a rooster tail.
PHIL MICKELSON: That’s it in ’93. I think that was the last one I missed.

Q. It’s probably a bad memory, but it was a funny story when you told it.
PHIL MICKELSON: No, it happens. I think — look, you learn a lot more out of failure than you do your successes and that was, I learned a lot from that experience and I’m fortunate, it also drove me to not have to qualify for that tournament. I don’t think I’ve had to qualify for it since. I think ’94 — I won twice in ’93, so I think that got me in somehow. Money List or maybe top-30 on the Money List got in —

Q. They used to reward winning back then.
PHIL MICKELSON: — something like that, yeah.

JOHN BUSH: Phil Mickelson, thank you for your time. Best of luck.

PHIL MICKELSON: Thank you.

Pebble Beach, California

February 5, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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European Tour: Phil Mickelson Talks 2020 Goals Ahead of The Saudi International

UNSPECIFIED, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 29: Phil Mickelson of the USA in action during the pro-am event prior to Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club on January 29, 2020 in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional Phil Mickelson speaks with the media about his 2020 expectations, the importance of growing the game and even makes a super bowl prediction ahead of the Saudi International.

European Tour: Phil Mickelson speaks with the media prior to the start of the 2020 Saudi International

Q. Your initial impressions of the Royal Greens?
PHIL MICKELSON: It’s a really good golf course, and it’s a challenging test. It’s a fair test. It’s really well done. The greens are really well done. I just think the course is just a great test of golf and a wonderful place to hold the tournament.

The conditions can be difficult, like we saw today with wind, and if that’s the case, it’s really tough test of golf.

Without wind, you can score low, but it’s a really well done golf course that’s very playable in difficult conditions, and yet still challenging in calm conditions.

Q. The growth of the game, how important is it to introduce new countries to the sport?
PHIL MICKELSON: I am excited that there are so many courses planned for this new city. I’m excited to have met a young girl who wants to be the first professional Saudi professional. She seems like she’s driven and motivated, and I love the support that she’s getting.

I care about this game, and to see the excitement level in some of the young kids here, and to see that there are plans for many courses here in this new city, I think that’s really cool.

I love seeing the game grow all over and I love seeing the plans for courses here, and I love seeing kids. I love seeing kids out here; the more we get, the better.

Q. How excited are you about the year ahead and the work you’ve done off the golf course?
PHIL MICKELSON: So I’m very optimistic about what this 2020 brings. I’m more surprised that the first two weeks haven’t gone the way I planned, but I feel like my game is a lot better than it was last year and I just need to be patient. The scores will come.

Full Leaderboard: 2020 Saudi International

Q. What do you feel you need to improve?
PHIL MICKELSON: So the practise rounds, like I come out here today, and I drive it great. I hit 11, 12 fairways. I need to do that in the regular tournament. Sometimes I get a little tight and I get a little scary, and I just need to go out and play relaxed, because I want to force the result. Because I know I’m playing well, I try to force the result and I just don’t get the best out of it. I just need to stay patient and it will come.

Q. Some terrible news at the weekend, Kobe Bryant.
PHIL MICKELSON: Man, I think that has hit everybody really hard. Myself and everybody, we just can’t comprehend something like that. Because a guy like that, you think he’s going to live forever, and it just kind of is a reality of what a finite process life is, and it’s really hit everybody hard, especially people that know him.

He’s one of the premiere icons in all of sport, in all of America, and I think many parts of the world, too, as global as basketball has become. I don’t even know what to say. We’re still all shocked at what happened.

Q. What’s your favourite memory of him?
PHIL MICKELSON: Meeting him and spending time with him. One time I was with Amy at a Lakers game and he came over and gave us a hug. That was kind of a moment. He had this way to make you feel so good; that it wasn’t so much the things he said, although he said some incredible things, but it was the way that he made you feel when you were around him.

Q. Super Bowl is this weekend. Your prediction and thoughts on the game?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think it’s exciting to have two such evenly matched teams in such an explosive offense that Kansas City has. Historically, a better defense has always won, a team that has thrown as much as Kansas City. But in this instance, there might be a mismatch in the secondary. I think it’s just going to be an exciting game.

Q. Score prediction?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think it’s going to be a higher scoring game, 35-31, and I’m not really sure who I’d go with, but I would guess KC.

January 29, 2020

King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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PGA Tour: Phil Mickelson Speaks About 2020 Season Debut at The American Express

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 16: Phil Mickelson plays his shot on the fifth tee during the first round of The American Express tournament at La Quinta Country Club on January 16, 2020 in La Quinta, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and two time American Express champion Phil Mickelson previews his 2020 season, turning 50, Champions Tour and new pace of play policies.

PGA Tour: Phil Mickelson speaks with the media prior to making 2020 season debut at The American Express

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome the tournament host and the two-time champion of The American Express, Phil Mickelson. Phil, you’ve been a tournament ambassador for quite some time, but now with the expanded role as tournament host and with the Mickelson Foundation being the host organization how does it feel to be back at The American Express?

PHIL MICKELSON: So it’s exciting to start the year, it’s exciting to see some of your faces again, it’s been a few months. But to start here is especially exciting because we have some really cool things going on here. This is, after a few years now of being involved as kind of an ambassador role, to take on the host role and have a partner as such a global icon as American Express helping to get this tournament to elite status again is something I’m very excited to be a part of.

So we have seen this tournament start with the vision of Bob Hope and the way he brought this game to the masses and made this a special unique event. And in all of sports there are only two opportunities for amateurs to play and compete on the actual playing field as the professionals and it’s here and at AT&T up in Monterey in the game of golf. And to be a part of one of those two events is an opportunity I think is pretty exciting.

And then to now have the partner that sees that vision too and get the right people here and make this special I’m excited to be a part of that. Jeff Sanders from Lagardere has done a great job the last few years getting it to this point. We’re now to the point where we’re going to sell out on Friday and Saturday and we have some great value for our fans who come out to watch and we’re going to recommit to make sure all of the charitable dollars stay here in the Coachella Valley.

So there’s a lot of things that I’m excited to be a part of and proud to be a part of.

THE MODERATOR: Your first start of 2020 in the new calendar year. How have your off weeks been and what are you most looking forward to this year?

PHIL MICKELSON: So I did not have a great year. After I won at Pebble last year it was a rough few months. I had a great off season, I’m excited to start the year, I’m curious as probably anybody is to see how well I play. I think I’ve tried to address a lot of weaknesses or areas that needed to improve and my motivation is back — this is the best I’ve felt in years, maybe even decades — and physically there’s nothing holding me back from playing some of my best golf. So if I’m able to have good focus on the course and address some of the issues that have kind of plagued me in the past I think it’s going to be a great year.

THE MODERATOR: Great. We’ll open it up for questions.

Q. Kind of along those lines it’s kind of a milestone year turning 50. First off, do you feel 49 and if not, which I assume, why?
PHIL MICKELSON: So when I look back on some of the highlights of tournaments that I’ve won or played well in 15 years ago in my mid 30s, I mean, it’s embarrassing the way I looked and the way I didn’t, I wasn’t really accountable for my health. And so now that I’ve taken a much greater level of accountability and I feel a lot better than I did 15 years ago. So there’s no reason that would hold me back from being able to play and practice as hard as I can to play well out here. So now it’s on me. Can I get the best out of me again. I believe I can, I’m excited for the challenge and so the greater the challenge, the greater my interest level. And I respect and understand how talented and great players these young guys are, but I also enjoy the challenge of beating them and being I think I’m ready to do that.

Full Leaderboard The American Express 2020

Q. With the birthday coming up, we’re all very curious about what your schedule’s going to look like. You’re usually pretty meticulous about thinking about that, so what are we looking at for the front of the year and then the back of the year?
PHIL MICKELSON: So there’s a lot of things that are up in the air for me that are going to be played by ear this year, because we have the Olympics as well, and so a lot of tournaments that I have played in the past I may play, I may not play, I don’t have a set schedule like I’ve had in the past, because I don’t like playing too many new courses because I don’t know the courses that well and it takes a little bit extra energy to learn the course and feel like I’m prepared. But conversely I feel like there’s some good courses and tournaments that I have not played in the past that I would like to play. So I really, other than the West Coast — and even that has some question marks — like I know I’ll play the next four weeks starting here I’ll end up playing here and San Diego next, I’m going to skip Phoenix, obviously, to go to Saudi Arabia, come back and defend at Pebble. But I am not in some of the World Golf Championships right now, which a new thing for me, so depending on how I play will affect my schedule whether or not I play the Match Play or Mexico or weeks before or after that. So there’s a lot of things that are up in the air, but I’m anticipating playing 22 weeks again.

Phil Mickelson talks Champions Tour:

Q. And what about any Champions Tour events after 50 and what — as this birthday has approached, how have you thought about being on that TOUR and how much you would like to play on it?
PHIL MICKELSON: So I haven’t thought too much about it and I won’t until I see how the first six months of this year go, because I’ve had this, I’ve had kind of a lot of great things happen that lead me to be encouraged about the year and I’m curious to see how the first six months go. It’s nice to have the option to move over to another TOUR, but it’s also nice to have the challenge of competing out here. And I don’t often voice too many goals, but one of them is to make the Ryder Cup, it should be a pretty obvious goal so I need to play enough tournaments out here and play well to be able to achieve that particular goal.

Q. Do you see a point where you would play a lot of tournaments on the Champions Tour? I mean, I talked to Davis yesterday, Davis is 55, he’s still playing most of his tournaments out here on the PGA TOUR. Can you foresee a time when you’re playing 10, 12, 15 tournaments on the Champions Tour?
PHIL MICKELSON: When I stop hitting bombs I’ll play the Champions Tour, but I’m hitting some crazy bombs right now. No, I still have speed, I still, there’s no reason I couldn’t play out here. I hit the ball every bit as far. Usually as guys get in their 40s they regress, I had a five, six mile an hour club head speed increase last year. A little bit of commitment in the gym, a little bit of work ethic and all of a sudden there’s no reason that physically I can’t do today what I did 15, 20 years ago, in fact I’m doing more.

So the realization about what the game of golf means to me and how competitive I am and how much I thrive on that challenge has hit me and it’s led to a greater work ethic, a greater commitment to physical health and well being and a greater quality of life. But I also enjoy this challenge. So I’m curious to see how the first six months go. And then I’ll start to weigh some decisions. But there’s a chance that if I do what I expect then I may end up competing for years out here. And there’s a chance that maybe I am misguided in my thinking and that I should move over. But a lot will be decided or seen in the first six months, because I feel like I’m ready to play.

Q. We’re a local health and wellness publication and you are looking great.
PHIL MICKELSON: Thank you.

Q. Do you attribute your current condition to any specific nutritional plan, because the plant-based movement is a big thing, I wondered if you are eating your vegetables.
PHIL MICKELSON: So that’s an interesting thing because there’s something that resonated with me and that was that everything I put into my body is either helping to fight disease or it’s causing disease. And that saying has me look at everything I eat as to is this helping me or hurting me. And for the most part, I’m not a hundred percent, but most of the things that I put in are helping me.

Q. I’m sure you’ve got very different images of the 72nd hole here last year than Adam Long does, but what are the lingering images you’ve got from that finish last year?
PHIL MICKELSON: So the image for me was the 9th hole where I drove in the water and then missed a 5-, 6-footer for par, because that — I’ve actually looked back at that hole as being a point where I’ve had to make some changes and so forth and that I’ve used to address in the off-season. So, for instance, I’ve worked hard this off season to address the weakness of — I have to have the ability to hit bombs, we talked about it, you got to hit it long out here. But you also have to have that shot that gets in play. So I worked hard with Callaway to get a driver that, so I don’t need two different drivers, but one that hits it high and far, but also I can hit it low and in play. And so I’ve been working on like a little pinched cut driver that takes the right side out of play. And it goes back to that instance on No. 9 where I thought I hit a good drive and it bounced in the water.

So I’ve used that particular moment, not so much the last hole — I don’t feel like that’s where I lost it I lost it more in the middle of the round.

Q. Also, just a follow-up, on players like Adam Long, guys who have been on the TOUR and played under the radar for several years, do you have any advice for players like that who have been under the radar and suddenly they have won and advice for them on how to deal with the increased demands on their time that they haven’t experienced when they have been able to sort of play with some anonymity?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don’t have great advice, I have a lot of respect for them as players because you have to have a lot of belief and confidence in your abilities without having much success to back that up and you just believe and believe and believe. And now he’s turned into one of the top players in the world and he’s won and he continues to play at a high level. I think I have a lot of respect for that. You kind of figure the rest out on your own.

Q. Talking about the Champions Tour again, I know you’re curious for the first six months how you’ll do out here, is there any curiosity of the Champions Tour and, hey, what could I do there or will I go to an event just to see what it’s like or is that if you’re playing well here you’re just going to, that can wait.
PHIL MICKELSON: So you never say never, I have a lot, I actually really enjoy the Champions Tour because those are the guys that I grew up playing with, they were the guys I grew up idolizing as a kid, then having a chance to play with and compete and developing relationships, playing a lot of my first team events with. And so I really like those people, I like the guys on the Champions Tour, I like hanging with them, talking with them and being around them. And so never say never. But I’m sure that it’s — I will play Champion events, I’m not going to not ever play Champions Tour events, I just don’t know how committed to that TOUR I’ll be at any particular point and a lot of it will depend on how competitive I’m able to be out here. And this is where my first enjoyment is, but I also like to win and I like to be in contention and I like to play golf at a high level and I’ve played golf at a high level for spurts, but I haven’t played consistently at that level that I have throughout my career and that’s what I need to get back is the week-in and week-out level of high golf.

Q. And I know you touched on this before, but how discouraged were you last year, I mean how bad were you in your own head or was it just I can think through this?
PHIL MICKELSON: I don’t know how to answer that, I just had kind of a rough eight, nine months and rather than dwell on it I’ve kind of put that in the past. And we had a, on a we had this really cool thing where Amy had the famous artist Peter Tunney, who did Wynwood Walls and so forth, created this, he had done this painting called Mojo Rising and he did this special thing for Amy for the holidays where he had a limited edition reprint of that for 20, of 20 prints. And we have given it out to a lot of our friends and family. And we just feel like our mojo’s rising, we’re going to have a great year and we have got a lot of great things happening.

Q. Curious, your reaction to the new slow play policy.
PHIL MICKELSON: So I’m not really familiar with the details of it, I haven’t read it, I think that the fact that it’s not group based and it’s more individual based is a good thing, but I haven’t looked over the details of it. I do like that because it seems to be more of an individual problem than a group problem. And yet we have to look at — I’ve been out here for 25 plus years and every, this has been a topic for when I first came out. You can’t inundate a golf course with 150 players and expect guys to play quick. On the weekend I can see it being a case, we should play three hours 40 minutes and so forth. But I just don’t worry about it when we have this many players on the golf course, it’s just hard to play fast.

Q. Is it encouraging to you though that this is finally being addressed after as long as you’ve been on TOUR?
PHIL MICKELSON: I guess, I don’t really think much of it. I mean, again, it’s been in my ear for 25 years so I just kind of tune it out. But I’m glad that some things are being done. It’s not an area that really affects me too much so I haven’t really looked into it very hard.

Q. Golf fans enjoy connecting with you through social media, whether it’s Instagram or Twitter, instruction —
PHIL MICKELSON: Thank you.

Q. — exercise or stories and so forth. I’m just curious to see if you can just tell us how much you enjoy that and also what goes behind the scenes of how many people gets involved as far as like creating a post and what do we expect for 2020 from a social media point of view.
PHIL MICKELSON: So it’s just me right now that just kind of stuff that comes to me and I enjoy kind of connecting with people in a way that I didn’t know was possible. And there’s been, from that some things have stemmed, for instance, people have asked for — like I wear kind of a logo of me winning in 2004 and little things like that have stood out. It’s not like I sell that, but because people have asked I’m starting to wear like a new hat this week, which you never see me with different colors, but now here I am wearing gray and some different colors. Melin hats is a brand out of Irvine that I really like their products and I’m wearing their hats now. And they have been working on my logo as a way to get things like that out for people that have asked on social media. I never would have known that or thought people were interested in that. So I’m trying to slowly adopt to what is being asked through that. And I wouldn’t have that connectivity or connection with the fans had it not been for social media. So I never understood the power of it, and how it could positively affect things.

And so that was one of the areas — and some of the things that I say, like slogans, that have come across whether it’s “calves” or “hit bombs” or “attack pins” or stuff or things, I’ve said that for years, but social media has brought it together with the fans and created this emotional connection with us. And I just, I had no idea really how powerful a tool it was. So I want to thank the Melin hat guys for helping me connect with the fans too, you know, it’s — anyway, thank you.

Q. You probably don’t need motivation, but how much if at all was last year, was watching last year’s Presidents Cup after two and a half decade of being part of it?
PHIL MICKELSON: It was so fun to see them play well on that final day and win. I mean I just — I thought — it was really a fun event to watch. I think those are fun events to watch. I can see why the fans really enjoy the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, you have that match play element, you have the emotional, you have the emotional element, the national pride, all of those things go into it and it was so cool to see the guys play so well.

Q. Being that you’re the tournament host this year, how does that mentally impact your game if at all?
PHIL MICKELSON: So I have to make sure that I’m ready when I get here, that I’m not going to find my game here because there’s some other responsibilities, I want to make sure it’s the first class experience for everybody here, that the CEO’s that we have brought in, that the people we have brought in have this great experience. So I’m spending a little bit more time making sure that the week goes well for everybody. So I had to spend the last seven, ten days working with Andrew Getz and working with Dave Pelz getting my game sharp so that I’m ready when I get here. I think I am, but you don’t know until you tee it up, you really don’t know.

Q. Steve Stricker is the field this week. What is your practice in terms of communicating that Ryder Cup goal to the current captain and does it differ this year given where you’re at in the standings?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, he knows how bad I want to be on the team, but I don’t want to be a pick, I’ve got to earn it. I’m at the point where I’ve got to earn my spot, there’s eight spots out there and if I play well I’ll make it. If I play to the level that I believe I’m capable of I’ll make the team. But if not, you’ve got to give those spots to some younger guys that haven’t had the chance to play and compete the way I have. So I have six, eight months to get it done and I’ve got plenty of time, every bit of fair opportunity to go out and prove myself and play some great golf. So there’s not much he’s going to be able to do as a captain because I need to get my, earn my way on the team.

THE MODERATOR: All right, thank you for your time and keep hitting those bombs.

PHIL MICKELSON: Always. Always. Thank you.

La Quinta, California

January 15, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports