With Phil Mickelson's impressive victory in the Tour Championship two months ago and his performance this past week in China, some believe Lefty will surpass Tiger Woods as the best player in the game in 2010.

Nonsense. Lefty will find a way to make the wrong mistakes at the wrong time and remain how he will be forever defined: a tremendous player, even a Hall of Fame-caliber player (he'll likely finish with about 50 victories), but nowhere in the class of Mr. Woods. Nobody is. That is no crime.

Mickelson had his chance in the June 2006, and then came the Massacre at Winged Foot. If he had made one more lousy par on the 72nd hole of the Open, he would have recorded his third straight major victory and a legitimate case could have been made that he had surpassed Woods, at least temporarily.

Since then, Mickelson has failed to capture a major in 13 appearances, and that is how greatness in golf is measured, not in winning Tour Championships and certainly not in winning a European event in China despite the quality of the field. He squandered two excellent opportunities in 2009, at the Masters and the Open, with costly miscues on the back nine. Admit it: You weren't surprised he let them slip away, not one bit.

Much of the optimism for 2010 is due to his effectiveness on the greens after working with putting expert Dave Stockton. He made everything the final weekend in Atlanta. Yet there is a vast difference between East Lake and Augusta National, in the difficulties of the putting surface and the magnitude of the event. It remains to be seen whether he can again make the biggest putts on the biggest stages. He has three majors to his credit, but should have at least five or six by this point in his career.

No doubt Mickelson will win more events in 2010, perhaps even four or five. But that still won't be enough to dethrone Woods, who will be more motivated than ever after a year without a major title of his own.

Time is running out for Mickelson, who will turn 40 in June.

Woods will be only 34.