Contrary to popular belief, Tiger Woods hasn't already won the 2008 Masters Tournament.

Phil Mickelson hits off the third tee. "I don't think it really matters if you're favored," he said. (Chris Thelen/Staff)

The world's No. 1 golfer has been the de facto pick in everyone's golf pool, but winning the first leg of the Grand Slam isn't as easy as that. There are obstacles at Augusta National Golf Club.

One in particular is left-handed and has a 2-to-1 edge in green jackets the past four years. Phil Mickelson isn't concerned about the heavy sentiment favoring Woods.

"I think how you're perceived heading into the tournament really doesn't matter," Mickelson said Tuesday.

Butch Harmon is Mickelson's swing coach and helped build the swing that earned Woods his wrap-around slam. Last month, Harmon claimed another pupil, Adam Scott, had the best chance of challenging Tiger. On Tuesday, he changed his tune.

"There's Tiger and Phil and everybody else," he said.

To be fair, that everybody else includes plenty of guys who have a great chance of winning. You could very reasonably drop a wager on former major winners Geoff Ogilvy, Retief Goosen or Vijay Singh and feel comfortable about getting a return on the investment. Golf isn't as predictable as Woods makes it seem sometimes.

"The last group is going to be Tiger and Phil," CBS announcer Jim Nantz said. "That's the one that everyone really wants to see anyway. When you talk about the fear factor that is out there and all the rest of the players in the world and how they are able to handle the pressure of being in Tiger's world or universe, I think that Phil is the one guy, more than anyone, who has no fear of Tiger."

Mickelson remains the closest thing to a rival Woods has. As he proved in Boston last September, Mickelson can stare down Woods without wilting.

"He's won countless events and double-digit majors, 13, so he should be confident," Mickelson said of Woods earlier this year. "I think that this year I should be able to put myself in contention as well, and I look forward to the opportunity to compete against him."

Trip Kuehne is playing in his first Masters since 1995, when he qualified by losing to Woods in the finals of the 1994 U.S. Amateur. Kuehne had plenty of game back then and was confident enough that he knew he could occasionally beat Mickelson when they were roommates for one year at Arizona State.

Kuehne, the reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, played a practice round with Mickelson on Tuesday and marveled at how far his ex-roommate had developed.

"There's no way I could beat him," Kuehne said. "If I had my best day driving, hitting irons, chipping and putting, I couldn't beat him."

Mickelson has every skill needed to win at Augusta National again. He's leaner than ever and plays with the confidence of a guy sporting two green jackets in the Champions Locker Room.

But he's flying in under the radar of Woods' Grand Slam quest.

He seemed unconcerned that he's getting lumped in with the field with regard to Tiger.

"I don't think it really matters if you're favored or not or what people expect," Mickelson said. "I think that nobody expected, let's say, last year's winner. But yet we as players knew what a good player Zach Johnson was and he was going to contend and continue contending in majors."

When the tournament starts Thursday, Woods will be the prohibitive favorite in the eyes of many. But counting Mickelson out would be foolish when his game is built just as much for this course. .

"I love this golf course; I love this tournament," he said.

"And I love when I get here, how you don't have to be perfect. You don't have to hit everything perfect to be able to score well. You have to be able to miss it in the proper sides of the greens, and you have to have a great short game. You have to get up-and-down a lot from on and around the greens, and I think that those have always been the areas of my game that I feel the most comfortable with, which is probably why I always believed before I had won a major that this would be my best opportunity to win one."

Maybe he's not coming in as the favorite, but the world's No. 2 player is a closer second here than the rankings might indicate.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.