If Phil Mickelson waded into Loch Ness, guddled about in its depths to find the eponymous monster and hoisted it aloft in triumph on the Kessock Bridge, where do you think the admittedly preposterous conquest would rank on the Californian's list of achievements?

Not very high, obviously. There are far more elusive things to get his hands on, after all.

This week is all about the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart but there is no escaping the golfing beast that is looming on the horizon. Mickelson is back in the Highlands for his usual pre-Open Championship fling as the four-time major winner continues to rummage around for the missing link on the links before, next week at Muirfield, the 43-year-old launches assault No.19 on the old Claret Jug. Some would say he has got more chance of pulling Nessie out of the water by the tail than grasping this Royal & Ancient game's most cherished piece of silverware but never say never.

A share of second place in the 2011 Open at Royal St George's hinted that maybe, just maybe, Mickelson is finally getting to grips with this most quirky, unpredictable and fascinating form of golf after years of toil and trouble. The learning process will continue here at Castle Stuart.

"I think it would be one of my greatest accomplishments to be able to conquer links golf and win an Open Championship," acknowledged Mickelson, who ended his search for his first major at the 2004 Masters before going on to claim a further two green jackets and a US PGA Championship crown. "Although I've come close, I have not really played my best golf in the event. I think I've identified a couple of reasons why, but it's time to play now. It's time to shoot the scores and hit the shots that I've spent 20 years now trying to work on."

He should get the chance to do that this week. As the sun burst through again yesterday and had Mickelson cooing like a pigeon on a first date – "it was so warm and beautiful it was like San Diego" – the firming up process of the Castle Stuart layout continued unabated. Fiery, bouncy; they are hardly terms that have been tossed about in wild abandon in recent seasons given the deluges that have dropped down on this part of the golfing world. This week promises to provide a different test, though, and a stage where the abundant nuances of the links game – the thought, the craft and the execution of a variety of shots – will be highlighted.

It is a challenge that Mickelson is relishing over the next fortnight. "I think the last eight or nine years, I've started to play better golf in the links style," added the world No.8, who was also third in the 2004 Open at Troon but has endured a number of lowly placings and missed cuts in the game's oldest major during two decades of campaigning. "But it's still something that I'm trying to learn as I continue my career.

"The challenge has been the importance of angles; something we don't think about because we are able to fly the ball to the hole. It's a mental switch that has to take place and the importance of these angles, the positioning off certain sides of the fairways to be able to get to pins or get on the green. You have to plan for 40 or 50 yards of release at times and that can be a really big adjustment. I would put myself in spots where I really didn't have a shot. It wasn't my inability to hit, say, a 6-iron over a bunker and stop on a downslope. It was my inability off the tee to put the ball in the right spot from where I could run up a shot and get it close."

Pipped to the US Open for a sixth time at Merion last month, Mickelson is keen to cling to the positives and produce a productive and profitable second half to the golfing year. "It [the US Open] did hurt but part of golf is about being resilient, bouncing back and using it as a stepping stone. Instead of looking it as a failure, I want to take advantage of where my game has got to these last few months, starting here."

A year ago, Ernie Els, the only other player in the world's top 25 who is competing at Castle Stuart, certainly used the Scottish Open to his advantage. His warm up in the Highlands reaped great reward seven days later when he won the Open at Royal Lytham. Darren Clarke also got himself geared up for his successful 2011 Open crusade in the Scottish event and Els, a staunch supporter of the domestic championship, has no doubts about the benefits of a timely tune up ahead of the biggest championship on the calendar.

"You do play with the thought of next week," said the world No.13, who won the Scottish title at Loch Lomond in 2000 and 2003. "Whether your putting is under scrutiny or your driving or your iron play, you get to work on that prior to getting [to Muirfield]. There's a little bit of history there. It worked for me last year and Darren before that. Who knows? It may just take you to the Claret Jug if you follow that lead."