Phil Mickelson enjoyed the perfect preparation for the defence of his Masters title as he won the Shell Houston Open by three shots.
Lefty moves above Woods in world rankings after 39th career win
Phil Mickelson enjoyed the perfect preparation for the defence of his Masters title as he won the Shell Houston Open by three shots.
The American followed up his course-record 63 on Saturday with a superb final round of 65 to claim the 39th tournament victory of his career.
His success at the Redstone Golf Club moves him up to number three in the world, meaning for the first time since 1997 he will go to Augusta ahead of Tiger Woods, who has now dropped to seventh, in the rankings.
Chris Kirk carded a 67 to claim his first top-two finish on the PGA Tour - he finished in a tie for second with Scott Verplank (68).
Verplank stumbles
Having been level at the top of the leaderboard with Mickelson heading into Sunday's action, Verplank did find himself two clear through 13 holes.
However, the 46-year-old from Texas stumbled with the line in sight, carding bogeys at the 14th and 16th to finish his week with a four-under round.
His errors allowed Mickelson to take control and triumph with a tournament-record winning total of 20 under par that snapped a year-long drought.
The left-hander had endured a wobbly start, though, bogeying the second and third, but a run of four straight birdies after the turn moved him back towards the summit.
Mickelson nearly managed a hole in one at the 16th and the short birdie putt he was left with sent him three clear of his nearest rivals. A pair of pars saw him cruise to glory - he had managed 18 birdies in total over the weekend.
"I'm very pleased to have played well," he said afterwards.
"I'm just trying to get my game ready and it's not just the physical ball-striking and short game and putting and so forth.
"I've got to maintain my focus throughout the round. There were two points out there today where I just lost focus.
"Next week at Augusta, that golf course can be very penalising."
History repeating?
Only four players have won the week before the Masters and then also gone on to enjoy success in the first major of the season. Mickelson, however, is one of them, having captured the BellSouth Classic in 2006 before earning his second green jacket.
Meanwhile, Steve Stricker and Australian Aaron Baddeley tied for fourth place on 13 under, one clear of Baddeley's compatriot Robert Allenby and David Hearn of Canada.
Padraig Harrington ended a solid week's work in joint eighth on 11 under after a 70 but Anthony Kim faded, as a 73 dropped him back into a tie for 13th.
Lee Westwood bogeyed the last but still signed for a 68. He needed a top-two finish to go back to number one in the world, but ended up in a six-way share of 30th place.
English duo Brian Davis and Ross Fisher could only muster disappointing scores of 75 and 76 respectively, dashing their hopes of a top-10 finish.
