Phil Mickelson Will Fail to Live Up to Pebble Beach Performance Throughout 2012

Do yourself a favor and don't raise your expectations for Phil Mickelson's 2012 season based on what he did on Sunday at Pebble Beach. If you do, you'll be left sorely disappointed. 

This is a pattern that we've seen over the last few years and it's too strong to ignore.

2010

Mickelson won the Masters. Any season that includes that sentence has to be a good one, correct?

On the surface, that looks like a great season. However, it was complimented with little else. He won nothing before Augusta and hung up a goose egg after donning the Green Jacket. 

Mickelson invested a lot of energy that week and it paid off. Any season looks fantastic when you win a major, especially when you start your career with the sort of frustration that Mickelson did at the majors. 

Looking beyond that, 2010 was not a particularly successful year for Lefty.

While he won no tournaments in 2003, he went on to win two each season through 2009. The fact that Mickelson managed just one in the season he turned 40 was certainly enough to raise some eyebrows.  

2011

This season took on an eerily similar pattern to 2010, only he won the week before the Masters. That being said, with the exception of the British Open, he never contended at any of the majors. 

Not unlike 2010, his Shell Houston Open win was a dominant one. However, it came with little else. All of the same thoughts were there. He can invest the energy needed to win once, but can't sustain it for an entire season.

2012

In the early going, Mickelson hadn't looked particularly impressive. That was significant because 17 of Mickelson's 40 career wins have come in California or Arizona. 

He looked great on Sunday. However, playing with Tiger Woods, there is no way that he wasn't significantly invested in that round. I have seen nothing in recent years to suggest that he'll be able to follow it up.

The fact of that matter is that Mickelson will be 42 in June. Your 40s are never described as your athletic prime and Mickelson is no different. 

Not only does your body begin to break down but priorities begin to shift. We have seen this with Mickelson, whose family members have suffered through highly public health issues. Lefty himself is battling through arthritis.

Golfers of his age and with Mickelson's talent can still put together a great week, but it takes a lot out of them. This means that wins are going to come few and far between. 

Don't expect that his Pebble Beach performance is going to be what we'll see from Mickelson for the rest of the year. Believe me when I say that the wins are going to be few and far between. When he's not atop the leaderboard, he won't be in consistent contention at all. 

The fact is that 2012 is taking on a similar pattern to the last two years. For one week, that means it's a good thing to be a Mickelson fan. However, when looking at the rest of the year, there aren't a lot of reasons to expect much.

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