You can go ahead and stick a fork in them they're done: But for entirely different reasons.

Phil Mickelson and Seve Ballesteros both bid farewell to the game this weekend. One, a valiant fighter who wrested 5 major championships from a group of competitors the likes of which the world will not soon see again, and the other a complex amalgam of hits and misses resulting in a slap-stick joyride of an up and down career.

Seve quit the game due to persistent back pain, preventing him from joining the seniors tour, where he surely would have continued to thrill with his amazing assortment of scrambling shot making. No one who follows the sport didn't marvel at least once with Seve's ability to get up and down from practically anywhere, including from the kitchen sink if necessary.

Phil on the other hand may as well concede his game to his psyche, which gets the best of him at every turn.

As is becoming commonplace, Phil breaks to the lead in a tournament, the Scottish Open this past weekend, only to throw a shoe down the home stretch. One can barely imagine the tone and tenor of the cacophony ringing inside his head as he approaches another 18th tee on Sunday with the lead.  I wonder if the voices are in English?

Time and again we are witness to a man's inability to execute the simple need of a straight drive when necessary.  We read about the poor sot Van de Veld and how he once lost a seemingly insurmountable lead on the 18th of the British Open.  How about Philly "Cheese steak" repeating the feat ad nausem? It's not unrealistic to think Phil's best days are behind him.  Doubtless he will win more regular tour events before joining the seniors. That much can be expected from this talented but inconsistent lot on the tour now.

But as for competing to victory in majors, Mickelson won't see another until the golf gods allow him to skip the 18th tee and drop somewhere in the middle.