Phil Mickelson prepares for start of challenging season

Phil Mickelson comes into the 2015 season facing two challenges – one he has not faced in over a decade and another he has not come up against before in his career.

As he prepares to begin his PGA Tour campaign for the season at the Humana Challenge, Mickelson faces the pressure of both having not won last season for the first time since 2003 and having to deal with the hangover from the controversial aftermath of the Ryder Cup.

A third consecutive defeat to the Europeans prompted much soul-searching, including the formation of an official task force of which Mickelson is a member, but the major shock that came after defeat was Mickelson openly questioning captain Tom Watson before the US team had even left Scotland.

Mickelson has long been one of the most popular men in golf, his open demeanour, wide smile and seeming grace under fire earning him many plaudits from those who watch the game and his fellow professionals.

But his praise for the methods of former captain Paul Azinger and claim that "nobody here was (consulted), in any decision" during the week at Gleneagles was seen by many both inside and outside of the game as crass, certainly as elder statesman Watson is one of the men more popular than Mickelson himself.

That, however, is unlikely to be his biggest problem as many, in hindsight, would probably admit that Mickelson had a point. It was just his timing that was highly questionable.

Plus the Humana Challenge, of which Mickelson is a two-time winner, comes in his home state of California where the fans are more likely to back a local boy than remember the events of September.

Mickelson’s problems will most likely stem from the fact that he has to bounce back from a season which saw him record just one top-10 finish in 21 events, his worst campaign since 1992 when he was still very much in rookie territory.

Little has been seen or heard of Mickelson since the Ryder Cup and his announcement that he will miss both the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the Northern Trust Open at Riviera in February suggest that he is narrowing his focus this term.

Mickelson, with his putting and short game, will still go into the Masters at Augusta as a danger and many will be willing him to complete his career grand slam at the US Open where he has finished runner-up six times.

It is worth noting too that his sole top-10 finish last season was a second-place at the US PGA Championship. He is still a man for the big occasion.

It is far too early to be writing off Mickelson. This is a man with 42 Tour wins and five Major championships, a man who for 15 years has been one half of Tiger versus Phil.

But, at 44 years of age, another winless season and people may start to see this as a deterioration as opposed to a blip.