World No. 2 Phil Mickelson clinched the HSBC Champions title yesterday in his first appearance in Shanghai after a tense three-way, two-round playoff against Englishmen Ross Fisher and Lee Woodward.

The lefthander held his nerve on the extra hole, the tricky par-5 18th where he had earlier dropped in the water, to sink a four-foot birdie putt, earning his 36th professional victory.

"It feels amazing," Mickelson said after pocketing US$833,000 for the victory. "I don't know how it happened. The whole day was a whirlwind, but what a fun day."

There was plenty of opportunity for Fisher to wrest victory from the American, who had won three times on the PGA Tour this year. Going into the 18th with a one-stroke lead over his rival, his ambitious attempt to reach the 538-yard hole in two saw him land in deep rough, and his recovering chip bounced off the green and into the water.

He eventually finished the hole on a double-bogey to card a two-over 74 for the round and 10-under for the tournament.

During the conservative initial playoff hole, the Englishman atoned for his earlier error when he was presented with an eight-foot birdie putt for the tournament win, but fell to his knees when his shot just would not roll in.

"You know, I can take a lot from this, I've pushed the world No. 2 all the way," Fisher said.

Pre-tournament favorite Mickelson, coming into the final round with a two-stroke lead over the Dutch Open champion after carding a four-under 68, had to work hard for his victory. The US President's Cup captain started brightly and was leading by three after 11 holes. However, he dropped four shots on 12, 13 and 15 and Fisher was now up by two.

A birdie on the 16 got "Lefty" back into contention, and despite hitting his second shot on the 18th into the water, nearly clinched victory with a 10-foot putt for par.

The pair's misfortune was a boon for Westwood, who had started the day nine shots off the pace. Six birdies on the back nine, however, put the Englishman back in contention and he had to be summoned from the clubhouse for the playoff.

The sunny and bright day, with only a light breeze, began in shock with news that defending champion Yang Yong-eun had been disqualified. The South Korean was spotted by a fan following his round on Saturday to have made two mistakes on his scorecard.

Yang, who beat world No. 1 Tiger Woods for last year's win, was called for signing a four at the 12th when he had in fact shot five, while he signed for three instead of two at the 17th.

Although his finishing score of 2-under 70 was still correct, he was disqualified for registering a figure lower than his actual score on the 12th. Signing for a higher score is not punishable.

(Shanghai Daily November 12, 2007)