Phil Mickelson launches 2018 season with an eye on a Ryder Cup spot

Phil Mickelson is one of the most enthusiastic golfers on the PGA Tour when it comes to predicting how he’ll fare on any given Sunday. So when the winner of 42 tour events says he’s “very optimistic” about the coming season, it’s probably best to view his trademark buoyancy with something other than Lefty’s rose-colored glasses.

After all, the 47-year-old has not collected a trophy since he won the 2013 British Open, though in his defense, he did earn five top-10 finishes in 2017 and gave a stellar performance at last year’s Presidents Cup.

Which brings us to Mickelson’s goals for the coming campaign: completing the career Grand Slam by finally winning the U.S. Open, of course, and playing his way onto the 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup team.

“I really would like to be on that team,” Mickelson told GolfChannel.com’s Tim Rosaforte on Sunday as he prepared to raise the curtain on his 2018 season at this week’s CareerBuilder Challenge. “I’m putting forth a lot of effort to get ready, so I play my best to get on a team.”

Ranked 24th in Ryder Cup points heading into his first competition of the new year — and the first time in 25 years without long-time caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay on the bag — the righty who swings from the port side has much work to do to qualify for the 12-player unit for the 11th consecutive time and continue a streak that began with his first start for Team USA in 1995.

And then there’s the small matter of prevailing at his national championship, which would certainly be the crowning glory of his Hall of Fame career. He’ll attempt to get off the U.S. Open schneid at Shinnecock come June and, as always, Mickelson has great expectations for the men’s second major of the season.

“I’ve put in a lot of time in [the] offseason, getting ready [for] this year,” he told Rosaforte. “I’m physically a lot stronger. I’ve been practicing and working to get my game sharp. I don’t know how it’s going to start out, but I’m very optimistic.”

Before he can check those goals off his to-do list, however, the 43rd-ranked player in the world must get off to a good start to his season, which begins Thursday at the CareerBuilder, a tournament he won in 2002 and 2004 when it was the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. More recently, Mickelson finished the CareerBuilder T21 in 2017, T3 the year before that, and T24 in 2015.

To win the first event on the West Coast swing for a third time, Mickelson will have to overcome a star-studded field of 156 players, including two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (making his 2018 debut after a lackluster 2017 season), world No. 3 Jon Rahm, and 2014 CareerBuilder champ Patrick Reed. John Daly will add some color and excitement to the event, thanks to a sponsor’s exemption.