Where is the Phil Mickelson buzz at the Masters? If anyone can beat Tiger Woods it's Lefty

The last player to take down Tiger Woods in a head-to-head showdown was Phil Mickelson. So why isn’t he the favorite to oust Tiger’s Grand Slam bid this weekend?

There are a few fashionable upset picks this week: Geoff Ogilvy, Justin Leonard, Ian Poulter, even veteran Fred Couples has some wily old golf writers feeling nostalgic.

Fellow blogger William K. Wolfrum is even going with Sergio Garcia. I think we can all agree that a bad putter doesn’t win at Augusta National.

Yet Mickelson, who won earlier this year at Riviera C.C. (another classically designed course built in the same era as Augusta) is currently second in FedEx standings. Let’s not forget he is a two-time Masters winner and has the best wedge on tour.

Yet I’m hardly seeing anything on the wires or on analysts prediction sheets talking Lefty. I haven’t even seen the obligatory funny quote from him this week. Is he even at the tournament?

Mickelson showed at the Deutsche Bank in Boston last year that he can beat Tiger Woods, even when Tiger is at his best.

Feeding off the momentum, and stirring the golf world into a frenzy wondering if Tiger-Phil was at last ready to come to fruition and make the FedEx Cup a household name with a finish set to come down to the wire…

Phil took a week off.

That’s why Phil maddens us all, and why it looks like we’ve all given up on him to really challenge Tiger this year - even though he’s still technically the second best player on Tour at the moment. We’re already looking for a new challenger.

The only sure thing about Mickelson is that he’s bound to make a splash this week. Whether it’s a swan dive or a back smacker is the big question.

So here’s my Masters prediction for Phil Mickelson: He’ll either win the Green Jacket or miss the cut.