Phil Mickelson looking for more Majors

Last year Phil Mickelson was starving for his first major success.

This year, as the reigning U.S. Masters champion, he is hosting dinner at the famed Augusta National, having joined golf's most exclusive club.

"I am a little concerned with the champions' dinner in that the wine cellar that they have is extremely good and that I have to pay for dinner," laughed Mickelson, who can more than afford to pick up the tab having already won two events this season to sit atop the money list with more than $2.75 million.

"I'm going to be working very hard to try to cover that tab. "I think it's fun to be able to partake in all that.

"I looked back on the 12 Masters beforehand, or however many I played, and I looked back and I would see the Tuesday night champions' dinner and see all the guys congregating in their green jackets and it's cool to be a part of it."

In a year, Mickelson has gone from being the best player never to win a major to a member of the so-called "Fab Four" that includes world number one Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els.

The likeable left-hander has also found time to write a book, "One Magical Sunday (But Winning Isn't Everything)", taking a behind-the-scenes look at life on the PGA Tour and his dramatic last-shot victory at Augusta.

Between book signings, dinner parties and commitments to sponsors and media, Mickelson will attempt to join Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only players to successfully defend the green jacket and add another chapter in what has become one of golf's feelgood stories.

Mickelson went 47 consecutive events without a victory before rallying on the back nine and draining a clutch 18-foot putt on the last to beat South African Els by a single stroke and slip into the green jacket.

One of the challenges facing the 34-year-old American next week will be trying not to let his long list of obligations distract him from the successful routine and meticulous preparation that have transformed him into a top contender at golf's four showcase events.

"Everybody has a different way of preparing for events," said Mickelson, who followed up his win at Augusta with a second place at the U.S. Open and a third at the British.

"When I came out on Tour, it was difficult for me to know -- I didn't know what worked best for me, and a lot of it was experimental, and I would play the week before, I wouldn't play the week before.

"I'd work on driver, work on putting, work on different areas, and I wasn't getting out of my game what I felt I should. Now after last year's performances in the majors and implementing a certain preparation routine it seems as though I've found my best way to prepare for big events.

"There have always been little shots, little putts that have given me problems over the years that I've never made certain putts.

"I went out and found out why, and hopefully I'll be able to translate that into a lower score."

There have been plenty of low scores already this season for Mickelson, who has carded rounds of 59, 60 and 62, helping him to the first back-to-back wins of his career at the Phoenix Open and Pebble Beach.

Life since the Masters, however, has not been without its problems.

Following his Masters triumph, Mickelson went winless the rest of the season and was the target of much of the criticism for the United States' failure at the Ryder Cup, when he chose to switch equipment on the eve of the year's biggest competition.

A year on, though, everything is fine for Mickelson.

"It's very cool to go back there as the past champion and be able to go in the champions' locker room and walk around with a green jacket," said Mickelson. "It's cool."