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By Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Whether or not the supposition is valid makes little difference to Phil Mickelson. He's not about to refute any notions that he has re-emerged as the chief rival to No. 1 Tiger Woods.

"It's flattering, to me anyways," said Mickelson, who climbed back to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking after his resounding victory earlier this month in THE PLAYERS Championship. "It's probably not to him (Woods) but it's flattering to me."

Phil Mickelson is looking for his first win at the Memorial. (Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Mickelson at the Memorial

Year Finish Score to Par 2006 T-4 -9 2002 T-9 -10 1999 T-11 -6 1998 CUT +4 1996 T-71 +7 1995 T-59 -1 1993 T-22 -5 1991 T-66 +8

Mickelson, reinvigorated after employing the instructional services of Butch Harmon, returns to tournament golf for the first time since his PLAYERS triumph when he tees off at 8:13 a.m. EDT Thursday in the first round of the 32nd Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley. Mickelson has never won the event Jack Nicklaus hosts at his own Muirfield Village Golf Club, but, then, Mickelson didn't own a stellar career mark at THE PLAYERS until his steady and sturdy play at the TPC Sawgrass produced a two-stroke victory over Sergio Garcia.

"A lot of great players have won this tournament. I have not. I think it's one of the TOUR events that I would very much like to win," said Mickelson, who in his eight starts at Muirfield Village has two top-10 finishes, which have come in his last two starts: a tie for fourth last year and a tie for ninth in 2002.

He'll have to conquer a field that includes eight of the top 10 in the world ranking and 13 of the top 14 on the FedExCup points list. Mickelson, 36, also will have to better navigate a layout on which he has shot better than 68 just once. It's also a layout that Nicklaus continues to tweak -- "You know I can't leave things alone," the Golden Bear admitted -- and now measures 7,366 yards with its furrowed bunkers and deep rough.

The greens are darn fast, too. "The speed of these greens are going to be very similar to what we face in two weeks (at the U.S. Open at Oakmont, near Pittsburgh)," Mickelson said. "So it's great preparation for lag putting and chipping, trying to get the ball close on this golf course, it's difficult."

Hitting fairways is not, however. Muirfield Village is a second-shot golf course. Nicklaus prefers to provide generous playing areas from off the tee. "Everyone should hit 13 fairways a day," said former British Open champion Ben Curtis, who hails from nearby Ostrander, Ohio. "Oakmont's fairways will be half as wide."

And scoring should be easier, though not necessarily easy.

Driving accuracy is an issue that Mickelson is addressing by changing from his long-time coach, Rick Smith, to Harmon, who used to advise Woods. Tiger left Harmon for Hank Haney and has been in the woods far more often. (His 53.57 driving accuracy percentage is 168th on TOUR compared to his 67.5 percent in his last full year with Harmon in '02). This development led Rory Sabbatini to express optimism about new vulnerabilities in Woods' game. Three wins in seven starts indicates Woods's ability to execute from any lie, particularly around the hole.

Mickelson's less than reliable driving has been a detriment at times -- most notably at last year's U.S. Open at Winged Foot, when his 72nd hole double bogey had him kicking himself. He might be interested in supplanting Woods one day atop the world rankings, but his present goals are more narrowly focused on the short grass.

"Look, I'm just trying to drive the ball better," he said, drawing laughs. "I feel like if I can drive it better and get the ball in play, I have a chance to make birdies from the fairway. That's where I'm at.

"Certainly the first three weeks of having some success has been fun. But again, it'll take a while for me to get to where I feel comfortable with the changes and get them all implemented, and it'll certainly be a while before anybody has a realist chance at taking on Tiger because of the success that he's had."

Mickelson visited Harmon last week in Las Vegas. He estimates that he is "halfway there" in the process of assimilating what Harmon is teaching him. He would not elaborate on the remaining half. Nor did he care to engage extensively in conversations that veered off track -- his track -- and onto a theoretical overpass that eclipses Woods.

"It's a tough feat," Mickelson admitted. "We're talking about probably the best player of all time. I'm working hard. I think it's going to take some time for me to get ultimately where I want to be as far as where I want my swing to be, where I want my ball-striking to be. But I'm certainly optimistic with the early success I've had."