Phil Mickelson: 5 Ways Lefty Can Improve in 2013

Phil Mickelson is going to be 43 years old this year and is almost three years removed from his triumph in the 2010 Masters.

Let’s be clear about something, the man is coming off a pretty darn nice 2012, having won once, posting seven top 10s and earned over $4 million. But he’s not the player he was.

Until last September, Mickelson had been ranked in the top 10 of the world golf rankings. He finished 17th last year and is down to 22nd going into the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Some players have been very successful in their 40s, mostly recently Vijay Singh.

There’s no guarantee Mickelson will ever get back to that top 10 level.

But, as he’s proven throughout his career, he’s the most unpredictable golfer you’ve ever seen and might well find a resurgence.

Here are five ways the big lefthander might get going in the right direction in 2013.

Figure out Something with His Driver

This is a guy who carried two drivers in his bag at the Masters. He’s always tinkering, adjusting, trying to figure something out.

Well the time has come for his brain trust to get something that works. There was a time when he could get it out there with the best of them, but not anymore.

In his first two events of the year, he averaged 284 yards per measured drive. Combine that loss of distance with his trademark hitting it all over the planet and even a strong iron game and sparkling short game aren’t going to be able cover up for what goes on with tee shots.

Work on Putter Again

He has clawed, he has bellied, he has adjusted.

But he has gotten bitten by his putter, mostly from short distances, maybe more than any other current player. There’s got to be something out there that could help a guy which such a marvelous short game and exquisite touch around the greens to finish the deal more efficiently.

His statistics in this category a year ago put him 13th with an average of 28.494 putts per round.

That doesn’t sound bad, but Mickelson would be one of the first to tell you had he made half of the short ones he missed in 2012, his season would have been exponentially better.

Hope to Keep His Psoriatic Arthritis Under Control

He was diagnosed in 2010 with psoriatic arthritis, which is an inflammatory form of arthritis that hit him hard that summer.

He’s been under the care of physicians since, on medication and, as far as anyone knows, has not had any serious attacks since.

If he is playing in pain and that pain has restricted him in any way, you can bet he’ll be working hard at whatever might help with the physical affliction.

Return Focus to Golf

No one will ever question the talent of Phil Mickelson.

He’s done things with golf balls that very few of his peers would even think about doing. But over the last couple years, his focus has begun to come into question.

He shot a mediocre 72 on the easier North Course at Torrey Pines last week and told reporters the following after the round, “Very lethargic off the first tee. I've got to get my head a little bit more focused on the shots, and I haven't been as mentally focused starting out. So, hopefully, I'll be able to turn that around tomorrow and start a little bit more effectively in the future."

In a nutshell, that’s where his game has been in recent years, with notable exceptions like the Ryder Cup last fall.

There’s no doubt he, like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy set their seasons and priorities around the majors, but while McIlroy and Woods can do that and still be factors in regular Tour events, Mickelson is rarely a factor on a week-to-week.

Make Sure the Filter Is on

Mickelson has never been short of opinions. He has a very gregarious personality and is open to discussion on just about any subject.

He’s the anti-Tiger at press conferences because he actually answers questions. But he was burned prior to the start of the Farmers Insurance when he launched into a diatribe about the amount of taxes he was paying as a resident of California and how drastic changes were going to be made as a reaction to those taxes.

He was roundly criticized for those public comments and admitted it was a mistake given the state of the economy for millions of people.

Hopefully the lesson learned from that incident will be enough to get him to talk and play more golf and less of the other stuff.