What they said: Phil Mickelson

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FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN: Transcript archive

Q. I heard you say you didn't feel like you played that great today, but you're still right there.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, my short game kept me in it. I didn't hit the ball the way I've been hitting it coming in. I don't feel like it's far off. Hopefully I'll make an adjustment tonight. I'll talk to Butch here shortly. We'll see if we can do it over the phone, otherwise I may have him come down. But at least I'm in a position now where a good round tomorrow can get it done.

Q. Talk about the eagle, two pretty prolific bashes on the hole.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I don't care for that tee box, but I kind of softened my stance on it today, to make an eagle there. I pushed my 3-wood quite a bit. I was aiming right side of the green, right center, trying to get in that low spot. I pushed it just perfectly, and it ended up being 10 feet.

Q. Talk about the guy that jumped in the tree.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, a gentleman was trying to help me out. I lost a ball in a tree, and because of that, I had to identify it, and if I could have, I could have dropped right there, one-stroke penalty, but instead I had to go back to the tee box. But he was trying to get the ball out of the tree so I could identify it.

Q. The rules official said you told him that you can't recall in a million rounds out here that ever happening to you. You had it happen to you and Ryan Palmer in 48 hours?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, these balls don't tend to stay up in them, and then yesterday Ryan Palmer, it happened to him on 7 on the North, and it happened to me today. First two times I've ever seen it happen here.

Q. Your thoughts on the statement today with two big bullet points; the wedges on the approved list; two, (indiscernible.) Your thoughts on that?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, we all have our opinions on the matter, but a line was crossed, and I just was publicly slandered, and because of that I'll have to let other people handle that.

Q. (Question regarding hole No. 4.)

PHIL MICKELSON: No, they couldn't even find the ball. I just took like a half-hearted look, and sure enough, not only did I find it, but it's like halfway decent. I probably could have tried to get it on the green. Bones talked me into going two clubs less to make sure I got it up over the bushes. But had he not been there, I might have tried to pump one on the green.

Q. What did you hit out of there?

PHIL MICKELSON: 8-iron. It was lucky.

Q. Was that just a --

PHIL MICKELSON: It was left. I hit a few drives left today. That's putting it mildly.

Q. You talked about letting other people handle it. Are you considering anything legal in that regard?

PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I think the TOUR will probably get on top of it.

Q. On the drive over here I heard someone say that your game is a little rusty. Is that true?

PHIL MICKELSON: You know, it sure looked rusty, but I had been so sharp just a week ago. I felt ready to tee it up a week ago. And I think I'm a little overanxious. I think I'm a little amped up. My timing has been off. I've been trying to hit the ball too hard, and I've been over-swinging, and it's been throwing off my rhythm. So I'll see if I can get that settled down for tomorrow.

Q. Do you feel like you have a legitimate chance to win tomorrow?

PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, yeah, it's only a few back. Right now it's three, could be maybe four, but if I throw something in the mid to high 60s I think it has a very good chance.