The announcement of a second sports hernia surgery a few weeks ago left Phil Mickelson's 2017 golf schedule in doubt. He normally starts at Palm Springs with the CareerBuilder Challenge, but a statement from his management team made that seem ambiguous at best.

Mickelson could still play that event on Jan. 19-22, of course, but it seems more likely he will start his year at the Farmers Insurance Open the next weekend on Jan. 26-29. Mickelson committed to the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday. The tournament is played at Torrey Pines, and Mickelson has won it three times.

He is one of 15 top-50 players who have committed to play so far.

Regardless of whether he plays the CareerBuilder the week before, this is a good sign for Mickelson. I was concerned he might be out until February or possibly March, but it sounds all but guaranteed we will see him in January for the California swing.