World No. 2 Phil Mickelson won the US$5 million HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai yesterday after beating the English duo of Lee Westwood and Ross Fisher in a three-way playoff.
The American birdied the second extra hole -- the 492-yard par five 18th -- in fading light, while Fisher could only manage a par and Westwood gave up after hitting into the water twice.
Mickleson earned US$833,300 for his victory, which was only his second professional title outside of the US.
The trio finished at 10 under for the tournament but in wildly contrasting styles.
Mickleson was the overnight leader at 14 under, two strokes ahead of Fisher. He extended his lead to as much as five strokes by the seventh hole but then experienced a spectacular loss of form.
He hit bogeys on the eighth and ninth holes to complete the front nine in even-par 36, then shot a four-over 40 on the back nine for a 76.
Fisher had been ultra-consistent for three rounds and 17 holes.
But at 12 under and with a one-shot lead over Mickleson heading to the 18th, Fisher's third shot, a chip from just off the green, was way too hard and went into the water.
It was a horrible moment for Fisher because Mickleson had earlier hit his second shot into the water and the young Englishman had walked up the final fairway acknowledging the applause of the crowd as the expected winner.
Fisher finished the 18th with a double bogey and Mickleson a bogey to both fall back to 10 under.
Westwood had earlier put himself into contention with a brilliant back nine in which he hit six birdies, helping him to a final-round of 67.
American Kevin Stadler, who led for the first two rounds, finished fourth after a 73 on Sunday on nine under, with Fiji's Vijay Singh and Irishman Padraig Harrington tied for fifth a shot further back.
The HSBC Champions is co-sanctioned by the European, Asian, Australasian and South African tours.
It is Asia's richest event and attracted 10 of the world's top 20 ranked players.
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