Interview: Mickelson
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It was just an amazing feeling winning this great championship. And to do it with probably the best round of my career, hitting some of the best shots I’ve ever hit. Certainly putt better than I’ve ever putted. I needed to show up and play some of my best golf that Sunday. And I did.
I made good pars on 15 and 16, and when I was walking up 17 I had to compose myself, because I hit two of the best 3-woods I’ve ever hit. That’s exactly why I didn’t have a driver in the bag. Those two 3-woods were the two best shots of the week, to get on that green. As I was walking up to the green, I realised the championship was in my control. And I was getting a little emotional. I had to slow down my walk and try and regain my composure. Because not only did I still need a two-putt birdie, I also needed to make a tough par on 18. Fortunately I made birdie on both.
Winning the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart was, at the time, big for me. It went down considerably in seven days! But it gave me confidence. It was exactly what I needed to propel me into the Open. Castle Stuart was a great place for me to get ready. It gave me some great links golf experience. I got to hit all the shots that we were playing at Muirfield. In fact Castle Stuart was very firm and fast, just like it was at Muirfield. That doesn’t mean that it was right for everybody, but it certainly was good for me.
I always wondered if I’d develop the skills needed to win this championship. I did enjoy links golf when I first played at the Walker Cup in 1991 at Portmarnock. It was a wonderful test. I played well. But the conditions and the penalty for missed shots in The Open are much more severe than we played then. And it took me a while to figure it out. It’s only been in the last eight or nine years I’ve started playing it more effectively.
You have to be resilient in this game because losing is such a big part of it. And after losing the US Open at Merion, it could have easily gone south, where I was so deflated I had a hard time coming back. But I looked at it and thought I was playing really good golf. I had been playing some of the best in my career. And I didn’t want it to stop me from potential victories. And I’m glad I didn’t, because I worked a little bit harder. And in a matter of a month I was able to change entirely the way I felt. Bones (caddie) and I have had a partnership over the last 20-plus years of my career, from the time I turned pro. It’s very difficult to pull clubs at The Open because you have three different options on every shot based on the trajectory and whether you’re working it into the wind or with the wind. So for us to be on the same page is really difficult to do. But we were on the same page all week at Muirfield. There were a few that we were off, like everybody, but only a few. Bones was exceptional.
I always knew I was going to win the Masters because I had played well there for so many years. I don’t know how many times in the previous 10 or 12 years leading up to that event I finished in the top 10, had opportunities to win and whatnot, so I knew when I showed up at Augusta I was going to have a chance to win. But I didn’t have that same feeling at The Open.
It’s taken me a while over the course of my career to not just hit the golf ball low, but hit it low without spin. That’s the challenge. Anybody can just move it back in their stance and drive it low. But when you do that you come in steep and create a lot more spin, and even though it’s hovering above the ground it’s still being greatly affected by the wind. So it’s taken me years to really get the ball low and without spin so it tumbles on the ground.
Callaway’s X Hot 3‑wood changed my driving altogether. How? The spin rate dropped down and it allowed me to make my normal swing with the optimum flight off the tee, without having to make an adjustment. That was monumental for me. And I have figured out what allows me to putt my best. Having a green in my yard and being able to putt there every night after dinner has really helped me over the last couple of years or so.
The Open is the greatest accomplishment I could ever get in my career because of the shots that I had to learn and the challenge that it created for me over the course of my career. It was so difficult for me to play my best golf under those conditions.
Mickelson’s Open record
1995: T40
1996: T41
1997: T24
1998: 79
1999: M/C
2000: T11
2001: T30
2002: T66
2003: T59
2004: 3
2005: T60
2006: T22
2007: M/C
2008: T19
2009: DNP
2010: T48
2011: T2
2012: M/C
2013: 1
