Phil Mickelson is in the midst of a busy three weeks, so he made sure he got one of the first tee times bright and early Wednesday morning at the TPC Southwind course.

A man celebrating his 46th birthday on the first day of the U.S. Open next week needs a little break.

“I’m going to go straight back to the room and rest up,” Mickelson said.

“I don’t feel as though there’s anything about my game that I’m worried about, but I want to make sure that I’m physically and mentally rested and ready to go, because for me to play well next week, I think it’s important that I play well this week.”

Mickelson practiced at Oakmont the past two days after tying for 20th at Memorial last week. He also played the pro-am at that event last week and played again Wednesday in Memphis, Tenn., before the FedEx St. Jude Classic starts today.

He’s got plenty of company in Memphis with players trying to tune up their games under the stress of competition before heading to Pennsylvania.