Phil Mickelson Will Win a Major in 2012

Phil Mickelson is not going to be deterred by letting the 2012 Masters slip through his fingers. He will come back strong and capture one of the three remaining majors of the year to push his career total to five. 

While the majority of the news following the Masters is how he either blew it or collapsed, the truth is he is playing fantastic. He just caught an unlucky break.

Mickelson entered Sunday at the Masters in second place, just one-stroke off the lead. He was fresh off a scintillating 30 on the back-nine, and—with the heavily unproven Peter Hanson as the only man in front of him—he was the favorite to win. 

Those title hopes were all but eliminated when Phil fired a triple-bogey six on the par-three fourth hole. 

Mickelson ended up shooting an even-par 72 to finish at eight-under and tied for third. The knee-jerk reaction is to say that Phil blew it or collapsed. This was not a collapse though. It was one bad hole. 

Mickelson simply picked the wrong spot to hit a bad tee shot. Almost every round Phil plays, he is going to manage to get himself into serious trouble off the tee. Most of the time, he is creative and skilled enough to get out of it, but his lie was far too impossible to make that happen here. 

Phil rebounded to play the remaining 14 holes at three-under. Had he just parred No. 4, he would have been wearing the green jacket right now, and his solid tournament is a far more indicative sign of things to come than his bad hole. 

Looking Ahead

The next major on the calendar is the US Open. While Phil has never won a US Open, he should be in contention this year. The event will be at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. It was last held there in 1998. 

Phil finished that event tied for 10th. With his experience and poise, he could easily turn that into a first. If he misses out on the title there, he will next turn his sights to the British Open. 

Lefty has historically struggled at the British. The high winds and pitch-and-run style of the links course have never been well-suited for Phil's game. However, he is adapting. 

Phil finished tied for second at the British Open last year and was in a position to win until he dropped some strokes to the course on the back-nine. 

After the British, Phil will turn to a major he has already won—the PGA Championship. This year, the event is at the Ocean Course in South Carolina. 

Phil's new-found link skills will again prove beneficial on this seaside links-style course. 

He will win one of these events. He is playing too good not to. The putting problems that have plagued him in recent seasons are a thing of the past, and he is striking the ball as well as ever.