Q&A: Mickelson and Woods on the Duel at Doral
(Editor's Note: Following are questions and answers from the post-round press conferences. The transcripts are courtesy of asapsports.com.)
TIGER WOODS
Q. Tiger, the win today moves you back to No. 1 in the World Rankings. Let's start with there.
TIGER WOODS: Well, it was just - what a day. You know, to go head-to-head against Phil like that and just to play that well, we both played well. It's not like we went out there and slopped it around and shot 73s and 74s. We both played really good golf. It was just one of those things where we were just trying to make some birdies and just trying to keep the ball in play, hit the ball on the green and make putts and we were both doing it. And you know, on that back nine, it was something, a lot of fun. I started the back nine 1-down, three holes later I'm 2-up, two holes later, we're even. It was just a great turn of holes and we both were playing well. Phil answered my eagle with back-to-back birdies which was just huge for him to suck it up like that and hit quality shots and make quality putts.
Looking back on the day, the only downer was our mess-up of a hole on 16. We both kind of played it a little ugly, but we both made bogeys, though.
On 17, I hit a great drive down there and just did not hit my sand wedge hard enough. I kind of chickened out on getting it back there and was lucky enough to make the putt and then Phil's chip on 18, from where I was looking, that thing was just center cut. It was high, looked like it was going to break right in the hole and it must have just dove across the face of the hole. It looked like it had perfect speed and was going down there like a putt.
Q. Did you feel tense from start to finish; was it that kind of day?
TIGER WOODS: It was, there's no doubt about it. We were both excited. I can't speak for Phil but I certainly was nervous out there. If you're not nervous on a day like this, you're not alive. That's what's fun about it because we are both going at it and we both knew that we had to make birdies. It wasn't like a U.S. Open where you just go out and make a bunch of pars and you probably end up winning the tournament. You could not sit on a par. You had to be aggressive. You had to be aggressive on every hole to try to make birdies.
Q. Were you more nervous than other final rounds even if you were tied for the lead, even if you were one shot behind just because of the whole dynamics of everything?
TIGER WOODS: Depends. You know, it certainly was an exciting atmosphere and you're always nervous when you play. But certainly, this was a lot of fun to be able to be a part of something like this.
Q. Do you accept the fact that this 1 and 2 thing, there could be a lot of flip-flopping and it could be down to having a good tournament with one guy is not playing, and for the fans is it going to be a fun season as it winds down?
TIGER WOODS: The rankings will take care of itself with wins. I said that from the very beginning. That's how I got there. That's how Vijay got there, that's how Double-D (David Duval) got there. It's just nothing but winning golf tournaments.
So far, I've gotten two this year, which is a nice start to the year.
Q. You downplayed a little bit the idea of you versus Phil, but you have to acknowledge what an event that it became today for the crowd, the electricity.
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it was electric, there's no doubt about it. It was definitely bipartisan out there. You could hear Phil's fans, you could hear Tiger fans. They were both yelling at the top of their lungs. You know, I told Stevie, I said, "Stevie, I can't hear you." When we get to the tee box, my ears are ringing. You guys walked with us; between green and tee, how loud was it? They are screaming from two feet away from you, screaming right in your ear.
Stevie says, "Yeah, you got a lot of advice today." So it was a lot of fun. The thing that made it special today is that we both played well. Win or lose, we both played well. I think that's what I'll take out of it is that as I said earlier, we don't go out there and shoot 73s and 74s and slop it around. It was a quality day of golf. Lucky we don't slop around and shoot those numbers because Vijay and DT (David Toms) were making a run behind us.
Q. The second shot at 12, ShotLink said it carried 300 yards.
TIGER WOODS: It ended up rolling out that far. It was 277 to the front and I probably carried it, what, 280 and it rolled the rest of the way.
Q. But you thinned it?
TIGER WOODS: I did. If you watched my reaction I kind of, oh, great, because I up shot it. Luckily the wind was a little bit down off the left and it stayed in the air. It kind of floated a little bit. This 3-wood is a little bit longer than my older 3-wood but it was nice to get a great break like that. What's important is I capitalized on that break and made the putt.
Q. How far have you come now in the past year with all of the things that you've been working on with your swing and do you feel as good as you've felt about your game in a long time?
TIGER WOODS: Yes, there's no doubt about that. I thought I could place the ball on the correct side of the fairways, pin was in the left, you know, I put it over on the right side of the fairway, pin is on the left, I put it on the left side of the fairway. That's kind of how I felt most of the week. Only day I really didn't hit that good was on Friday, and kind of got away with it, really. That's the only day.
Q. After your last putt and you backed off, there was a big sigh and you just looked spent; what were you feeling?
TIGER WOODS: I was grinding so hard on that back nine because the ebb and flow of the match, we had separated ourselves away from Vijay and David that we didn't have to worry about them. They could not catch us, so it was just Phil and I.
After he made back-to-back birdies, it was just, who was going to flinch first. We both flinched on the same hole. (Laughter.)
To come down a stretch like that and then I made that nice putt on 17, but 18, it's no piece of cake even with a one-shot lead. Anything can happen on that hole. To watch Phil's chip down there, from my angle, I tell you what, it looked pretty good, it looked awfully good. The pace of it, you know he chips in balls all the time, and you know this thing, he's eyeballing it and he's giving it the eye and you know this ball is going to have nice pace. It had nice pace and line.
Q. Grade the comfort level of your swing changes now; is it total trust in what you're doing?
TIGER WOODS: I feel very happy with it, there's no doubt about it. I was able to fly the ball, to hit the shots at the trajectory I wanted each and every time.
PHIL MICKELSON
Q. We were looking for a battle today between you and Tiger, and I think we got one.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it was fun to compete against Tiger. It was a fun day. I'm just a little ticked at myself for not getting it done today.
Q. (Woods) makes eagle on No. 12 but you bounce right back with birdies and you tied again with just a few holes left to go.
PHIL MICKELSON: When he made eagle on 12, I loved it, because I want a chance to compete against him at his best. And when he knocked that in, he was 6-under through 12 holes and I think he was playing at his best and that's what I wanted, a chance to do is compete against him at his best. I didn't want him to be giving it to me. I wanted to go after it. When he knocked that putt in, I loved it. And I loved the fact that I backed it up on 13 and 14 with two birdies. 13 was a bear of a hole, I hit one of best shots I've ever hit, 244 yard 3-iron which I can't hit that far and I was able to hit it that far. I had a chance on 15 and 16 to win, not to win but to get ahead and I hit two putts right where I wanted to and they just kicked off at the end, not much I can do and did it all day today once the greens got firmer.
You know, I had a chance there on 16, as well, to get the chip shot a little closer. I've been working hard on that chip shot from behind the green, getting it inside three feet, and it hit hard and went five feet and then I had a much tougher putt with those extra two feet. It lipped out. Obviously, he made a long putt on 17. I thought 15 and 16 is where I should have taken control of the match.
Q. Tiger was sounding like he was shocked when your chip (on No. 18) didn't go in. I can't imagine what you think.
PHIL MICKELSON: It was right in the heart. It was tracking with three or four feet to go. It looked like it was going right in the middle. Again, that's the same thing that happened on the putt, it looked like they are going right in the middle and kind of kick off at the end.
So, it's a little frustrating because I was - I knew I was playing well enough to win. I feel like, I believe, I should have won, certainly could have won and I just hope that I have another shot soon. I hope that the next time we get out and play, we both play well again and get in the last group because this was fun competing against him.
Q. Did you have any thought to putting out on 18 and putting more pressure on Tiger's putt?
PHIL MICKELSON: I probably should have, hindsight. Not that it would have made a difference, just to let him have - when he knocks it in to win if that was the case. I wasn't thinking. I was a little in disbelief that (the chip) didn't go in.
Q. What do you think you guys did for golf today? In the fact that it was such a look-toward event and you played so well, it became bigger than just a tournament, a lot of emotional electricity out there.
PHIL MICKELSON: I have no idea. I'm not looking at it from the outside in. I'm looking at it from the inside out and I don't know what that did.
I barely even saw the gallery. I knew there was a lot of people out there but I barely saw it. I was worried about playing so it was hard for me to answer that question. I think it would be easier for somebody watching to tell ... With all of the feelings I have about losing today, this was probably the best thing that could have happened to me heading into the majors because I felt like I was playing better than anybody after AT&T and after Phoenix, and I just knew that I was going to win today and when I didn't, it's a great slap in the face because I'm going to go work my tail off to salvage a couple more shots because when I come back to The Players Championship and the Masters, I'm going to be ready.
Q. Had you ever felt that way before?
PHIL MICKELSON: What way?
Q. That you knew you were going to win and it didn't happen?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yes, '99 U.S. Open.
Q. You've won twice, Tiger's won twice, Ernie won in Dubai today, this early in the season, this momentum going, do you sense some rivalries there or just things going to a different level this year heading into the majors?
PHIL MICKELSON: I hope so. I don't know, but I hope that's the case.
Q. Does this remind you of Tiger of old?
PHIL MICKELSON: He's playing well. Obviously he shot 63-66 on the weekend. I loved it. I mean, I really loved it. I want to play him at his best again. I hope he plays his best at The Players, and I hope I do, too, and I want to be head-to-head against him again.
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