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.
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
