It seems ironic that a guy nicknamed “Lefty’’ has spent the past four months trying to figure out how not to go left.

But that’s the message that came down -- over and over -- on Tuesday, when Phil Mickelson delivered the annual state of his game prior to his first outing of the season at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

According to the former Arizona State All-American, who now is looking for PGA Tour victory No. 30 at the age of 36, it’s all about eliminating that wayward drive, the leaking leaner to the left that has sunk his ship on more than one occasion.

Like last year’s U.S. Open, when the now-infamous blow went dead left at the final hole, bounced off a corporate tent and resulted in Mickelson’s unsuccessful bid to join Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan as the only players ever to win three major championships in a row.

“I addressed it with Rick Smith and Dave Pelz, who devised some devices to help me with the driving,’’ Mickelson explained. “And then I used Callaway’s technicians to help with the design of a driver (the square-headed FT1) that will eliminate that left shot, because not only was it on 18, it was on 17, and it was all throughout the final round (of the U.S. Open). . . .

“So this off-season, that was the key element that we addressed. What is it with the golf equipment, what is it with the golf swing, that we can do to eliminate that left shot that has crept in my game after starting my career having it be a hook problem?’’

Indeed, the schizophrenic driver always has been Mickelson’s bugaboo. Then again, being out of shape also has been a burgeoning problem, too, and he admitted as much with a reference to his poor showing – 0-4-1 – in the Ryder Cup debacle.

“The Ryder Cup performance was more of a physical problem,’’ he said. “It’s late in the year, it’s the last tournament for me of the year, and I don’t feel as though I stood up physically throughout the nine months.’’

To that end, Mickelson has done his best Steve Nash, spending “five or six days a week’’ in the gym. Of course, there also were trips to Italy, Mexico and Bora Bora, where he and wife Amy celebrated their 10 th anniversary by renewing their wedding vows with a Polynesian wedding.

“I immediately lost 20, 25 pounds,’’ Mickelson said of his workout regime – not the wedding. “And I put on about 10 to 15 more (pounds) with muscle from lifting and trying to build up stamina doing 45 minutes to an hour-and-a-half of cardio.

“I’m hoping that this will improve my stamina so that at the latter part of the year I have a better performance.’’

How this translates into this week, and ultimately this season, is anybody’s guess. Certainly, he looks like Lefty again after finishing the season looking more like Lumpy. As for the driver, Mickelson still is using his Callaway FT5. But that will probably change by the Masters, he said, when he goes “square’’ with the FT1, a driver he calls “revolutionary.’’

“The ball goes a lot straighter,’’ he said of the FT1, which has a significantly higher moment of inertia. “I think that the average player is going to love it, and the Tour player will gravitate to it over the next year or two.’’

OK, so the driver will change, and his body is more by design. But will those be the keys that help Mickelson unlock his seemingly never-ending saga to unseat Tiger Woods as the No. 1 player in the world?

I doubt it. If anything, the answer lies between Phil’s ears. The question I’m asking is: How damaged is his ego after such a roller-coaster season in 2006? (Remember, he did win the Masters.)

“Well, dealing with failure is part of the game,’’ said Mickelson, who currently is No. 4 in the world. “I deal with it 90 percent of the time. . . .

“I think it’s a challenge to try to get past that.’’

Once again, there’s a little irony here. In the February issue of Golf Digest, Mickelson pens a column entitled, “Recover in One Shot: How to Work the Ball Out of Trouble.’’

His message to the reader: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Tour player or a casual golfer, the better you are at making something positive happen when you’re in trouble, the better your scores will be.’’

Whether or not he takes his own words to heart, we shall see.