Masters Scores 2012: Sunday Keys to Phil Mickelson Winning 4th Green Jacket

Phil Mickelson will be adding a new green jacket to his closet if he can execute in the following key areas of his golf game. 

With Lefty, it is nearly impossible to predict how he will perform from round to round. The guy is unbelievably streaky. 

So instead of getting caught up in prognosticating how he is going to do, I'm going to map things that he needs to do, and things people should look for, for Phil to have a successful round. 

Maintain That Gorgeous Putting Stroke

This is the single biggest key for Phil on Sunday. He has caught absolute fire with his putter, and was draining everything on the green on Saturday. 

He doesn't need to putt that unbelievably well, but it should be close. 

Mickelson has lost more tournaments lately with his putter than he has won. He has missed way too many putts in the 5-10' range. The last thing he needs to do on Sunday is miss a couple of makeable putts and start thinking of that as he lines up his high-pressure Masters putts. 

Hit Some Greens

It is a good thing that Mickelson is putting well because he hasn't done such a great job of hitting greens in regulation. He has only hit 32 of 54 greens. 

This puts way too much pressure on his putting for a Sunday at the Masters. He has to hit more greens. This will give him more chances at a birdie and it will the limit his exposure to dropping strokes to the course. 

And hitting those greens will be far easier if he does this next key well. 

Drive the Golf Ball Where He Can Find It

Mickelson's solid distance off the tee has helped him succeed at Augusta. It has also doomed him. He has hit more than a few shots in the azaleas and pine trees of Augusta. 

And Phil doesn't want to have to rely on shots like this to win the Masters. 

Lefty drove the ball amazing on Saturday. If he can keep that up he is well on his way to victory.