He was in contention in three of the four majors last year, yet faded badly on the pressure-packed weekends.
As this season winds down, the calendar is working against Mickelson and Ernie Els, who each have four majors.
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An avalanche of mergers and acquisition activity has cut that number to seven, with the four majors controlling most of the rail lines.
He opted against competing in Texas to allow his body sufficient time to recover for the first of golf's four majors this year.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy has vowed to be patient as he concludes the first year in which he has played in all four majors.
The 45-year-old, who has won 20 LPGA titles including four majors, has played in all 10 Solheim Cups but has yet to win away from home.
The world number three has finished in the top three in three of the last four majors, including missing the play-off by one stroke last year.
When Azinger took over he persuaded the USPGA to revamp the qualification process to base it exclusively on money earned, with more weight on the four majors.
Over the last four majors, there have been 42 entries by women 30 or older at the start of tournaments, a leap from just 11 a decade earlier.
It put him top of the Race to Dubai standings and put him inside the top 60 in the rankings, and closer to automatic qualifications for the four majors.
England's Laura Davies has won four majors (1987 US Women's Open, 1994 and 1996 LPGA Championship and 1996 Du Maurier Classic) and compatriot Alison Nicholas claimed the 1997 US Open.
He underwent knee surgery after that epic victory and returned in 2009 to win a clutch of tournaments on the PGA Tour, but with no luck in the four majors.
In the olden days, you may recall, golf merrily drifted off into its Silly Season come fall, ceding the stage once the four majors were done to football and the baseball playoffs.
The four majors were split between Charl Schwartzel (Masters), Rory McIlroy (U.S. Open), Darren Clarke (British Open) and Keegan Bradley (PGA) but none of them really can make a claim for the POY.
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And no player has ever won all four majors in one calendar year with the closest to do it being Woods who won the last three majors of 2000 and the Masters in 2001 to hold all four titles simultaneously.
Her maiden slam means all four majors are in the hands of first-time winners for the first time in history, following wins by Li Na, Petra Kvitova and Samantha Stosur at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, respectively.
The Australian Open offered the smallest winners' prize check of the four majors in 2008, however, at today's exchange rates, the 2009 prize is currently the richest in the game (although the amount of the 2009 U.S. Open winner's check is yet to be announced).
Eisenbud's pronouncement about Sharapova's future comes as a boost to the women's tennis tour due to Sharapova's enormous star power and fan base, which increased when she won the French Open last June to cap her comeback and become just the 10th woman to capture all four majors.
The fact that we have four math majors and a full-time statistician means that we take that number crunching very seriously.
And to top it off, the Masters is traditionally viewed as having the weakest (or easiest) field in the four golf majors.
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The four highest paid majors for people with less than five years' experience were all engineering-based, with computer engineering leading the way.
The 36-year-old has pitched four seasons in the majors, all with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With Adam Scott's win at Augusta last month, anchor putters have now won four of the last six majors.
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The 24-year-old's success means all four of this year's majors have been won by Asian players.
She believes that the wave of success that Tseng and others from the region are riding, will continue after Asian players won all four of the women's majors in 2012.
"I think I did pretty well, although it could have been better, " said Wie, who played in 24 LPGA tournaments as an amateur and has four top-10 finishes in majors.
Woods's record of 14 majors wins puts him just four behind Jack Nicklaus, who is the most successful major winner with 18.
The Yankees shortstop has helped his team win the World Series four times in his five seasons in the majors.
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