You can't compare Phil Mickelson to Karl Malone. Karl Malone never won a championship. Phil Mickelson has won three majors and isn't done yet.
If Mickelson wanted to prepare himself best for the US Open, he wouldn't have taken time off to be with his wife, who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Are you going to disparage him for putting family first too?
His track record in majors is 2nd to only Tiger, and so far he's playing the majors better than Tiger this year.
If the Number 2 player in the world is a choker, what does that make everyone else?