Phil Mickelson believes he is close to his best despite finishing in a tie for 58th in the 79-man field at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
It was the left-hander's first appearance since the US Open in June after he took a break from the game to be with his wife and mother, who are both undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
And while the American was happy with his overall performance, he admitted his short game was not where it needs to be if he is going to contend for a second USPGA Championship title.
"I didn't score well but I didn't play as poorly as the score reflected," said Mickelson, who nevertheless hit only three of 14 fairways on Sunday as he went 75-73 over the weekend.
"I thought my short game was not as sharp as it needed to be on greens that got firm, on rough that was a little bit higher than I had been practising on.
"So I'm going to spend extra time on that getting my chipping down, my putting touch down in preparation for Hazeltine.
"I'm encouraged that I was able to get out and play and the biggest thing for me this week was identifying where I was weak.
"I actually expected to play a lot better than I did. I was playing well heading into the week.
"But it became pretty obvious that when I get on green speeds like this and when I get in rough just a little bit thicker, my short game wasn't where it needs to be."
