LA QUINTA, Calif. — After a middle-of-the-pack finish in his 2013 debut, Phil Mickelson stood off the 18th green at the Palmer Private course at PGA West on Sunday and talked about having to make, in his own words, “drastic changes.”

He was not referring to his equipment. Mickelson, already one of the highest-earning athletes on the planet, is not considering switching the clubs in his bag or the clothes on his back, the way the world No. 1, Rory McIlroy, did last week after signing a lucrative endorsement deal with Nike.

On the day President Obama was sworn in for his second term, Mickelson sent shock waves through the Humana Challenge when he said the political landscape in the United States was causing him to seriously contemplate his future in golf. Mickelson, who will turn 43 in June, has 40 PGA Tour victories, including four majors, and was inducted last year into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“I’m not going to jump the gun and do it right away,” he said after carding a six-under-par 66 to finish in a 10-way tie for 37th, “but there are going to be some drastic changes for me because I happen to be in that zone that has been targeted both federally and by the state. And, you know, it doesn’t work for me right now. So I’m going to have to make some changes.”