How Mickelson performs this weekend, regardless of how his RC record ends up playing out, will not change how most of us look back on his career. But being a fan of him for a long number of years, I'd just like to see him finish respectably.
He hasn't had a great RC career. Part of that is because he's played in this event 12 times (46 matches), and of course he's gonna amass more losses than any other American because he's the most tenured Ryder Cupper of his generation (perhaps in history, although I'm merely assuming....) Tiger, in comparison has played in 7 events (34 matches).
Phils record is 18 wins, 21 losses, 7 halved matches.
Tiger's is 13 wins, 18 losses, 3 halves.
And sometimes the captain does have an influence on things. See Hal Sutton back in 2004 and Tom Watson back in 2014, most notably, just to keep things in somewhat of a perspective here.
Phil was picked because this is in all likelihood his last Ryder Cup appearance. Based on his deteriorating play, he otherwise would've not likely been picked for the team. Furyk didn't want to be the guy that robbed Phil of his last hoorah. But Phil should've been picked as a vice captain, opening up the spot to a younger player who deserved consideration.
Phil wasn't chosen to play in the morning session tomorrow. He will not be picked to play in the afternoon alternate shot session, not if Furyk has even half a brain. He'll probably have one more chance to notch his 19th career win in the RC matches on Sunday, but he'll have to dig deep and play some inspired golf to win (and hopefully) make a difference in the outcome.