Lefty's struggles a glaring problem this early in year

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Phil Mickelson has yet to break 70 in six rounds this season.

There's something peculiar going on early this season for one particular star player and hopefully, for the sake of the game, it's not the start of a trend.

Granted, Phil Mickelson's 2009 season on the PGA TOUR is a mere two weeks old, but over the last 14 days, Lefty has left a lot to be desired.

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Because of his incredible success through the years -- 34 wins, including three majors and a PLAYERS Championship -- it's safe to say that our expectations for Mickelson are higher than anyone on TOUR not named Tiger Woods.

That's what makes his first two starts in the '09 campaign so baffling.

First there was the debut at the FBR Open at TPC Scottsdale, where two victories (1996 and 2005) account for two of Lefty's nine top-10 finishes in the event. In 2008, Mickelson finished runner-up in a playoff to J.B. Holmes.

In 2009, however, Mickelson made a quick departure after rounds of 76-73 to miss the cut. And if you're like me, trying to put a finger on the last time Lefty started the year with a weekend off, don't even try. You won't find it.

This was a first.

Chalk it up to shaking off the rust, even though that's a word that's never seemed to be synonymous with Mickelson. "Rust and Mickelson" go together like "Ski vacation in Aruba." It just doesn't make sense.

The rust, however, hasn't gone away just yet. And, according to a reputable weather Web site, there's still no snow in the forecast for Aruba.

Making his return home to Torrey Pines for the Buick Invitational just last week where he's a three-time champ (but hasn't won since changes were made to the course in 2003), Mickelson once again struggled, breaking par in just one round (a 70 on Thursday). He followed that with scores of 72-73-75 to tie for 42nd.

Is it still too early to bring the jury in to read the verdict on Lefty for 2009? Absolutely. However, it's interesting to point out that he hasn't had this bad a start to a season since 2003 when he tied for 28th at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and missed the cut at the FBR Open in his first two starts. Coincidentally, 2003 was also the last time Lefty went winless in a TOUR season.

In fact, Mickelson usually owns the West Coast Swing, which makes this year's start so hard to fathom. He's notched 16 of his 34 wins since 1991 on the left side of the country, along with countless top-10 finishes.

In 2004 alone, Mickelson won the Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer in his first start and finished no worse than a tie for seventh in six other West Coast Swing appearances.

So what gives this year for the world's No. 5 ranked player?

In the build up to his season-opener at the FBR Open, Mickelson spoke a lot about swing changes he made during the offseason. But, as Nick Faldo's keen eye for the mechanics of the swing on golf telecasts have observed, the swing looks nearly identical to what we saw in 2008.

Mickelson can quickly bring this blur back into focus this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. It's another event he's won multiple times (2007, 2005 and 1998).

And if he doesn't get it done on the Monterey Peninsula, there's always Los Angeles and the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, where -- you guessed it -- Lefty has won before. He's actually the defending champion this year.

The bottom line here is that while we've enjoyed some great golf and stories to start another new season, Mickelson's early absence on the first page of leaderboards at places where we expect to see him in top form has left us scratching our heads, pondering what, if anything, is wrong with Lefty?

After all, this just isn't supposed to happen.

History says so.

T.J. Auclair is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.