Q. How would you sum up the day?
PHIL MICKELSON: I hit a lot of good shots today and had a chance to shoot a low round. But this is the issue I've been dealing with is I'll make two swings and it costs me four shots on 11 and 16.
I just need to keep working on eliminating it. I'm hitting enough good shots to shoot some good numbers, and I'm having fun playing, and I'm having fun hitting the shots again and driving it well.
Just need to stay a little bit sharper on one or two swings because in major championships the punishment for a mis-hit is so severe. I also didn't shoot myself in the foot. I just need to come out tomorrow with a good round.
Q. You weren't here last year, but standing on the 1st tee teeing off looking down the fairway, what's going through your mind? What are you thinking?
PHIL MICKELSON: That I get to play Augusta National in the Masters and this is an awesome day no matter what I shoot. Just trying to enjoy the day and not put so much pressure.
Q. What was the fan reaction to you out there?
PHIL MICKELSON: I thought it was great. It's been great all week.
Q. Did you get a bit of a boost coming back here, Phil? Do you think it helps your game any no matter what state it's in?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think it's fun to be in the Masters every year, know you're going to be in this tournament, know you're going to be a part of this regardless of how you're playing and an opportunity to play here.
I feel like you can play this golf course and not have to be perfect. As long as you put it in the correct spots, you can kind of manage your game around and shoot a number. I think that's why I always enjoy playing here is because I feel a little bit more relaxed, like I don't have to be perfect.
Q. You're less than two years from winning a major championship. Can you contend realistically in these things?
PHIL MICKELSON: Like I say, I'm two swings away from being right up there. I just need to stay a little bit sharper on every single swing.
Q. The atmosphere of the Champions Dinner feel different than in the past?
PHIL MICKELSON: I didn't think so. I thought it was really cool. A lot of people told pretty happy stories. Pretty emotional with Larry Mize and Sandy Lyle talking at their last Masters, competitive Masters. I thought it was really a special night and fun to be a part of.
Q. How important was the second ball on 16 to get that close?
PHIL MICKELSON: Honestly it was such an easy shot. You have so far right of the hole that you can use that slope. To hit what I did, it was just like a mental block for a minute. It just wasn't a hard shot. So the second shot, again, it just wasn't that hard.
Q. Are you happy with the round? What's the emotion?
PHIL MICKELSON: There's a lot of positives because I hit a lot of good shots. I made a lot of good putts. I can see a lot of really positive signs in my game. Again, I just need to be mentally sharp on every single shot out here because the penalty is two strokes for a mis-hit.
Q. What's the thought process in the second shot on No. 2? With the driver.
PHIL MICKELSON: The branches were low, and I had a little bit more room right, if I went right of them. I thought that I could keep a driver low and cut it easier than a 3-wood. I thought 3-wood would go right up in the trees. I was just trying to chop a little driver, hit a low running cut by the bunkers. It caught one of those limbs and shot left. But it was still a birdie.
Q. What prompted the decision to be like the fittest you have ever been in 25 years? What was the cause of that?
PHIL MICKELSON: I think I'm having -- I needed something different, and I'm having a lot of fun having three teammates and having a different energy and a fun environment, and I want to play and compete at that level. And I'm going to figure it out.
Like I'm not scoring well, but I'm not playing bad either. So I'm hitting, like I say, a lot of good shots. I want to give myself a chance to play for a few years and experience a new format and something new and exciting and be with teammates. So I'm having fun, and if I'm not in shape, I can't do it.
Q. How were you able to do it? You look significantly skinnier than you once did.
PHIL MICKELSON: Thank you. I stopped eating food, that was a big help. I lost 25 pounds. Then I had -- I also lost muscle, so I had to start lifting, and I've been lifting and slowly have been getting my speed and strength back to where I need it to be.
I'm just going to keep it going this year and continue down that path because, if you watch like some of these guys out here today, how far and how fast they're able to swing the club, it's really amazing. It doesn't mean that they're going to win. You still have to hit the shots and manage your way around the game, manage your game around the course, but I've got to be in shape to be able to have a speed that allows me to compete.
Q. When you say you've got to keep it going, do you have like benchmark that you're looking for?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, for the most part. And also for overall health and you want to be -- like everything I'm doing is for wellness, right? I want to be healthy and well and not have any issues and not have any cardiac issues and not have any -- like I want to be fit and be able to enjoy life because this is a really fun chapter right now for Amy and I.
That's kind of another big motivator. But when your body, when you rely on your body to be able to do your job, it's a lot easier to be motivated to stay fit and get healthy and be well and so forth than if you're not. Like if you don't need to do that, it's a lot harder to be motivated.
Q. The reaction to a lot of fans seeing you were all commenting how thin and stuff like that. Do you kind of feel like a lot of people are seeing you again for the first time in a very long time?
PHIL MICKELSON: I wouldn't phrase it that way, no. But it's nice to be back out here.
Q. Phil, were you more nervous than normal?
PHIL MICKELSON: Surprisingly, I didn't feel that way because I felt pretty confident with how I was playing and hitting shots, and I felt like I could not have to be perfect here. But I just couldn't miss it in certain spots, which I did twice today. I had to kind of keep it on the correct side, which I didn't for all but two -- or I did for all but two.
But I was actually enjoying it and appreciative of the opportunity to be here. There was a lot of talk a year ago guys wouldn't be able to be here, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to play and compete here and be a part of it.
Q. Did you watch last year? What were you doing during the 2022 Masters when you didn't play?
PHIL MICKELSON: I was skiing and watching Scottie Scheffler play some great golf.
Q. Which club was the iron on 14?
PHIL MICKELSON: I flipped over an 8-iron. I felt like I needed a little bit heel-to-toe height and as much width as I could.
I had like a leaf that I practice swung, and I was like, all right, if I can hit this leaf, I can hit the ball. If you ever watched Dodgeball, if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. I thought, if I can hit this leaf, I can hit a ball. I hit the leaf and did it twice, and I'm like, all right, I can do it. Let's go do it.
I swing right-handed. I think to keep your speed up it's really important to swing the opposite direction because the acceleratory muscles of the opposite direction, or the deceleratory muscles of your normal swing. So I swing right-handed every day like a number of times and try to do that.
I'm not hitting a ball. I'm just swinging a weighted club. But I got to the point where I can swing it halfway decent. But still hitting a ball with an upside down club is not something I would choose to do.
Q. We saw Amy coming off the 7 green. Did she just come in today?
PHIL MICKELSON: She's been here. She's been here since Sunday.
Q. Will you be more aggressive tomorrow just to try to get a number out there?
PHIL MICKELSON: No. You've got to go by the pins, right? You have to say, okay, these certain pins I'm going to get at. These I'm not. Then there's a few tee shots that I have to be really careful of. 5 doesn't fit my eye. I'm going to hit this low cut. It's going to be in play, but I'm going to have a long shot in. So I can't get at that pin. I just want to make par there.
Even 13, I'm not going to try to hit a big drive. I'm just going to hit this low running cut like I always have. If it's far enough past, like it was today, I'll go for it. In the rain, it's likely that it won't.
But I know the shots that I can hit around here and that I'm comfortable hitting and there's some holes I've got to be careful of. They're usually different than the right-handed players, certain shots. I'm going to end up just playing it that way. And there's certain pins that I'll try to get at.
I ended up almost birdieing a couple holes that were tough pins. No. 9, that's a tough little pin, and I ended up making birdie there, making a long putt. So you never know. But there's a certain way that I have to play the course, and then the pins will allow me to go to have some birdies or it won't.
Q. What did the driver on 8 feel like?
PHIL MICKELSON: Salty. Yeah, really salty. That's a really hard second shot. I came out here a week or two ago and spent -- you know, hit ten balls, went and picked them up, hit ten balls again. I was trying different clubs for that shot.
Because if you've got an uphill lie, you're going to pull draw. That's the tendency, right? So if you're a right-handed player, you're going to have that uphill lie, and it's going to shape it right up that green, and the draw's going to run. If I'm hitting a cut, that's a lot harder shot because, if I pull it right to the right pins, I'm not getting that up and down. I'm going to have a 50, 60-footer, and I'm fighting for par. If I come out and miss it left, it's a potential double over there with the trees and the flowers.
And I've seen it all. I've been there. I can tell you. Test from experience. If I pull that shot off, all of a sudden I've got birdie and almost made eagle.
So that was a really hard shot that I ended up pulling off, and it allowed me to make a 4 when, if I didn't pull it off, there's no way I'm going to make a 4.
Q. You almost holed it.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it was a terrible break (laughter).
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