He never broke through however and has now slipped to number six in the world. There are a number of factors that could have contributed to this, most would just be speculation. But either way, with his psoriatic arthritic condition and being on the wrong side of 40, he will never make it to number one.
That's not to say he won't win again or won't win another major even -- certainly he's still capable of catching lightning in a bottle over four days if he drives and putts well, especially given his new Dave Stockton-inspired more aggressive putting style -- but the kind of prolonged effort he would need to climb back up the rankings just isn't there.
And it may ultimately be a statistical anomaly on his career resume. He's a certain Hall of Famer -- of that, there is no doubt. But you may see him start to decline in the coming years. Just look at his driving numbers: This year he's averaging 290.6 yards off the tee. From 2003 to last year he was between 306 yards and 295.7 yards off the tee on average. At best that's five less yards off the tee and at worst 16 less yards off the tee.
It may seem like a statistically insignificant number, but they don't tell the full story. That is, Mickelson seems to be swinging full tilt nearly every time he tees it up. It can't be a good sign to step on every single tee-shot and average less.
What's up with Camilo Villegas? Normally a quick starter at the beginning of the year, it has been anything but a quick start this year for Villegas. His opening round at the WGC-Cadillac Championship may ultimately be a microcosm for his year. He opened with birdies on four of his first holes to surge to a (very) early lead. He followed up with two bogeys, a triple and two more birdies to finish his round at one-under.
I've mentioned tihs time and again in this space. But in case you missed it, here's how he's started the year: DQ, cut, T44, W/D, T33, Cut. Quite the contrast to last year when he started: 3, T8, win, T16 plus a T19 and T9 on the European Tour.
Think about that for a second. His worst result in his first six starts last year was better than his best this year, and it wasn't even close. It was especially distressing when he flamed out last week as the defending champion at the Honda Classic, never even sniffing an even par rounds with a 79 and 78 in his only two rounds.
There could be a number of factors here. First there's the back injury that forced him to withdraw in Phoenix. Then there's his switch from Cobra to TaylorMade. And finally there's the fact that his caddy, Brett Waldman, is now playing on the NationwideTour, instead of toting his bag.
(Coincidentally Waldman got off to a great start in his first Nationwide event, shooting 68 in his first round but has failed to break par in five rounds since.)
I personally think all of these have played a small role, though I don't put much stock in the club switch. Ultimately, Villegas have proven to be a pretty streaky player. Consider that his three wins have all come during periods where he's been playing well. There's last year's win at the Honda and then his two wins during the 2008 playoffs which came during the following stretch: T4, cut, T3, win, win.
The bottom line is that Villegas is a talented player and will ultimately get things worked out. When that happens is an item for more debate.
Martin Kaymer might stay at number one for a while. If somebody -- Lee Westwood could mathematically do it this week -- doesn't knock Kaymer out of the top spot in the world rankings soon, it might be a long time before someone does. In four events so far he already has a win, lapping the field in Abu Dhabi by eight strokes and a runner-up at the WGC-Accenture Match Play event.
He seems like the perfect front runner. The same way Tiger used to seem more robot than human, he at least flashed some emotion (subtitle: anger) when he made a mistake. Kaymer doesn't do that. He just seems so flat-lined, regardless of what happens during a round.
Is Adam Scott switching a long putter a bad sign? He's still only 30 years old, but Adam Scott recently made the switch to the long putter. It's strange for somebody so young to make the change, especially given the fact that he's had a few signature wins, some even punctuated by a long putt.
There's also the fact that nobody has even won a major championship using the long blade but I would chalk that up to statistical anomaly more than anything and ultimately this may be a good move for Scott.
Looking at his recent putting stats, it may be a move of necessity.
2002 putts per round: 29.36
2005 putts per round: 29.43
2008 putts per round: 29.73
2009 putts per round: 30.10
2010 putts per round: 30.07
2011 putts per round: 31.88
His putting is probably not as bad this year as that number indicates considering the sample size but it is interesting to see the affect on his current PGA Tour scoring average -- 73.
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