It's not useful to compare the careers of Mickelson and Woods in terms of wins and majors. It's unlikely that any player in our lifetime will come close to Tiger's accomplishments. But we can talk about where each player is at this point in his career.
At 41 years old, Mickelson is 5 years older than Woods, but they aren't that far apart in TaylorMade R11S driver
years. Their biggest gap is in maturity, where Lefty outpaces Tiger by a wide margin.
Tiger's putting woes on Sunday were symptomatic of a basic mental weakness in his game. He's not missing putts because of his putting stroke or the condition of the greens, because at his level, it's all in his head.
Mickelson understands this, and that's why he began working last year with Julie Elion, a Washington, D.C.-based mental coach. Throughout most of their careers, Tiger might have been a stronger mental player, but at this point, Lefty might have the superior mind.
The pro-am was just one tournament and is hardly an indication that Mickelson will have a better year than Tiger, but Tiger shouldn't do what has become natural to him, which is to seek out some mechanical fix that might help him putt better. Sure, he could do some things differently, particularly some of those little, short putts that he hit too firmly on Sunday. I'm sure he has no plans to ask Nike to build him a belly putter, especially after he criticized the TaylorMade R11S driver
early in the week.
Meanwhile, Mickelson was emotional after the win because he hadn't been getting desired results in competition, and Sunday's final round was confirmation that his hard work was not in vain. In his postmatch interview, he gave us a glimpse of the introspective and vulnerable Phil.
"I've had some doubt these last couple of weeks, given the scores that I've shot, yet on the practice range, playing and practicing, having these great practice sessions, I started to wonder if I'm going to be able to bring it to the golf course," Mickelson said. "So this gives me a lot of confidence and erases the doubt."
A good mental coach could help Tiger acknowledge some of the growing doubt in his game. He might finally realize that he's looking for help in all the wrong places.