Backspin: Will this be Phil's summer? We'll find out soon

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To call Phil Mickelson's season a disappointment would be ludicrous -- he's won once, finished second once, has four top-10s in 12 starts and is fifth in the FedExCup standings.

But to say this has been the summer of Phil would also be an overstatement.

"With the exception of a glimpse here or there, the Masters, [Shell] Houston Open, I really haven't played to the level I expect to or have throughout my career," said Mickelson, who tied for 13th at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance.

But Mickelson also knows the season is a marathon and not a sprint. With someone like Mickelson, sometimes all it takes is one good round to get things going.

That's what he had Sunday with a final-round 67 that was only soured by a double bogey on the final hole. That aside, Mickelson left Muirfield Village in a good frame of mind.

""This whole year I've felt like it's been close," he said. "I haven't putted to the same level that I'm used to, but [Sunday] was a much better day.

"It can turn in a week, and I'm just trying to progressively get better."

Now would be no better time for Mickelson to do just that with the U.S. Open, a tournament he's finished second in five times, just two weeks away.

"I'd love to win our national Open," Mickelson said. "I just need a few breaks here and there or maybe a few less mistakes here or there to be able to come out on top."

And if he does, the summer of 2011 could turn into the summer of Phil.

Stock up

Matt Kuchar: At this point, it looks like Kuchar is going to have an even better year than he did last season, which is pretty impressive considering he nearly won the FedExCup. Kuchar got his eighth top-10 of the year on Sunday and while he's yet to win, you keep knocking on the door, eventually you'll kick it open. Will it be at the U.S. Open? I dont know about that, but I think Kuchar will play well at Congressional. FedExCup rank: 4 (14 last week). Luke Donald: Speaking of guys who are ATMs, or ATTs automatic top-10s Donald is the hottest player on the planet and the new FedExCup leader as a result. Donald recorded his eighth top-10 last week as well and the most impressive aspect of it all is that he's doing it in an era of the long ball while being one of the shorter players off the tee. What saves Donald is that he's very accurate with the driver. FedExCup rank: 1 (2 last week). Rory McIlroy: Sundays fifth-place finish was just McIlroy's fifth top-10 of the year between the PGA TOUR and the European Tour, but he looks to be peaking at the right time he plays big in big events. I'll get into McIlroy's busy upcoming schedule in the Back Nine, but I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him contend at the U.S. Open. He's mostly put his Masters meltdown in the rearview mirror. FedExCup rank: N/A

Stock down

Jhonattan Vegas: Another week, another missed cut. Vegas has now failed to reach the weekend in six of his last seven starts. He's broken 70 just twice in his last 16 rounds and clearly has been a bit overwhelmed -- by his own admission -- by what's been a whirlwind season. He could still earn Rookie of the Year honors but the more weeks like the ones he's had lately, the less likely it seems. FedExCup rank: 24 (21 last week). Jeff Overton: I know he tied for eighth at the HP Byron Nelson a couple of weeks ago but that was just the second top-10 of the year for Overton, who missed the cut in Columbus. Last year, Overton had six top-10s, including three runner-up finishes. This year, he has just two top-10s. FedExCup rank: 67 (64 last week) Ernie Els: Wasn't it just a year ago that we were talking about a resurgent and re-dedicated Els when he won twice? Well, this year Els doesn't even have a top-25 in a full-field stroke-play event on TOUR. One reason: Putting. It's killed Els this season -- he's 185th in strokes gained -- and it's crept into his head, which is why he has tinkered with a long putter. FedExCup rank: 115 (116 last week)

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1. Stat of the Week: 20 under. That's what Steve Stricker shot on the front nine at Muirfield Village last week. That kind of performance allowed Stricker to get away with seven of his nine bogeys for the week on the back nine, including two on Sunday.

2. Stat of the Week II: Stricker is now 6-of-12 in converting third-round leads or co-leads into wins, including four of his last five. That's a better number than you think -- just look at the last two months on TOUR.

3. One of the feel good stories to come out of Sunday's final round was the tie for second by Brandt Jobe. That gave Jobe, whose career was in jeopardy after he severed his fingers from a piece of metal on a broken broom four years ago, what he needed to secure his card for the rest of the year. The last few years have been a struggle for Jobe, a promising young player before the accident, and he still has some issues with the fingers. How rewarding was Sunday? "You'd have to ask my wife. I drove her crazy for a few years," Jobe said. "But it is, this is what we work to do. I mean, this is the adrenaline rush, this is what it's all about. You know, it's Sunday, one of the premier events that we have, and having a chance to win, this is what it's all about. Obviously the things I'm doing are working, which is great, and I've just got to keep with the process."

4. Ricky Barnes' career path looks an awful lot like Matt Kuchar's: huge success as an amateur, some struggles early in his professional career and success when he reaches his early 30s. Credit Barnes' success -- eight top-10s in the last year and a half -- to a bunch of things, including his time on the Nationwide Tour, his last three years working with Dean Reinmuth and maturity in his approach. "I'd like to get to that point in my career," Barnes said of being compared to Kuchar. "Am I there yet? No, but like I said, keep putting myself into positions. I had a struggle early on in the year with an injury, but I'm coming back. I'm feeling confident."

5. Speaking of injuries, a couple recent ones to note for you. Paul Goydos has cracked ribs and said they will take 4-6 weeks to heal. He hurt them when he fell in the shower during the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Gary Woodland is also dinged up, battling some back issues after a rib popped out of place in his upper back in Dallas. "Everything kind of just shut down around it," Woodland said. "It felt pretty good this week and hopefully we can keep it that way."

6. In terms of commitments and giving back, Rory McIlroy gets it, which is why he'll spend a couple of days in Haiti this week as part of a Unicef trip. He might be a bit worn out come the U.S. Open, though. Also on the itinerary for McIlroy: two days at Congressional, where he'll play with '97 winner Ernie Els, a trip to Bayonne, N.J., for a corporate day, and a visit to Pine Valley over the weekend. Conversely, when he prepared for the Masters, McIlroy took a couple of weeks off, played golf at Old Palm and hung out in Palm Beach, Fla.

7. I like the way Dustin Johnson is trending right now, which is easy to say after that final-round 65 Sunday. But it wouldn't be a shock to anyone of course to see him contend at Congressional in two weeks. "I finally feel like the game last week I played fairly well, and this week really the game turned around," Johnson said. "I'm starting to hit a lot of good golf shots, driving it in the fairway and holing some putts."

8. There are loads of good stories in U.S. Open qualifiers happening Monday all over the country (click here for the rundown from the USGA). Some of my favorites to follow: Gary Koch, who has played in 17 Opens but is now in the booth for NBC; Sawyer Shaw, a high school freshman out of West Palm Beach, Fla., who won back-to-back tournaments on the Florida Junior Tour earlier this year as well as the Under Armour/Vicky Hurst Championship in Port St. Lucie last month; Recent University of Georgia grad Russell Henley, who won the Nationwide Tour's Stadion Classic as an amateur last month; and Sebastian Crampton of Pacific Grove, Calif., who at 15 years and 16 days old when he tries to qualify on June 6 would be the youngest player to play in the U.S. Open should he make it.

9. Most caddies are good players in their own right. Damon Green, who carries for Zach Johnson, is better than most. Last week with Johnson off Green tried his hand at the Champions Tour's Principal Charity Classic, where he tied for 46th. "It was a struggle out there today," Green said Sunday. "I hit the driver bad, the irons bad. Off the tee, I was in the rough all day, but I made some great recoveries. I had to apologize to the guys I was playing with, I told them I'm really not this good." For all the caddie changes of late, it sounds like Green won't be quitting his day job anytime soon.

Forward Spin

The FedEx St. Jude Classic was the site of one of the more epic collapses in recent memory with Robert Garrigus squandering a three-shot lead in last year's final round before eventually losing to Lee Westwood in a playoff. That experience, as it turned out, helped Garrigus down the road and he secured his TOUR card in the final event of 2010. The victory also erased, at least in part, some demons for Westwood, who had earlier in the earlier let the Masters slip away. So what will happen this year? Well, TPC Southwind is a tough track and the weather will be hot -- sounds like perfect preparation for a U.S. Open in Washington, D.C.

This week's Kodak Challenge hole

TOURNAMENT: FedEx St. Jude Classic HOLE: The par-3, 239-yard 14th at TPC Southwind ABOUT THE HOLE: An elevated tee and a full carry over water to a severely undulated green is hard enough, but it's also protected by water on its entire right side. In short, it's a very difficult par 3, set among a natural amphitheater. Kodak Challenge standings