Golf Capsules: Mickelson rallies to win HSBC Champions

SHANGHAI — Thousands of fans caused a bottleneck at the entrance to the HSBC Champions, all of them eager to see the Sunday showdown at Sheshan International between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.

The Shanghai surprise? Woods turned out to be merely a spectator, too.

Mickelson built a six-shot lead over the world’s No. 1 player on the front nine, then rallied to beat another familiar foe, Ernie Els, with two clutch putts for a one-shot victory in the final World Golf Championship of the year.

Mickelson closed with a 3-under 69 and won for the first time playing with Woods in the final group.

Even with Woods out of the picture — he shot 72 and wound up five shots behind — Mickelson provided his usual dose of entertainment.

Trailing by one shot, Mickelson whiffed on a risky flop shot below the 16th green, only to save par with perhaps his best putt of the year, an 18-foot slider that dropped on its final turn. He followed that with a 10-foot birdie on the 17th, which turned out to be the difference when Els hit into the water on the par-5 18th and made bogey.

"We all expected that Tiger and myself would be shooting in the mid-60s and pull away a little bit," Mickelson said. "And yet, our group was not making any birdies. It was the groups in front of us. And I was very fortunate to come out on top by a shot. But this feels terrific, because I had to fight very hard throughout the day. Nothing came easy."

That was particularly true for Woods.

He looked out of sorts from the start, missing birdie putts of 4 feet and 10 feet, then taking double bogey on the par-3 fourth when he hit into a canal left of the green where residents on the other side routinely dump their garbage.

Hearing a series of camera shutters in the middle of his swing on No. 7 caused him to hit his tee shot into a plugged lie in the bunker, and it took Woods three shots to cover the final 75 yards and reach the green for another bogey.

"Anything that could go wrong went wrong for me today," Woods said. "Just one of those days."

It ended with a wedge too strong that went down the bank and into the water on the 18th, then having to wait for Mickelson to tap in for par and walk off the green to affectionate applause.

In the last four times Woods has played in the final group dating to the PGA Championship in August, he has won only once. And the last three times he and Mickelson have played together in the final round, Lefty has come out on top every time.

"I didn’t really envision shooting even par today," Woods said. "The guys took it deep, and I didn’t."

Mickelson finished at 17-under 271 and earned $1.2 million for his fourth victory of the year, matching his career-best. And while the PGA Tour does not count this World Golf Championship as official, it sure felt that way.

"It would be great if it would count, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that I beat 15 of the 20 best players in the world, and the gratifying feeling of having this trophy," he said.

Mickelson became the fourth player to win multiple WGC events, and he joined Woods as the only players to win two in one year. Mickelson also won the CA Championship at Doral by one shot over Nick Watney, the other player in the final threesome Sunday. Watney, calm in the face of so many cameras and so much movement, birdied the last two holes for a 71 and finished fifth.

Els put together a stunning charge on a steamy afternoon, going out in 30 to pull within one shot and taking the outright lead with a birdie on the par-5 14th. He was on the verge of a course record and his first victory in nearly 20 months, leading by one with his tee shot smashed down the middle of the 18th fairway.

His was 218 yards away, his ball on a downslope. Els didn’t think 4-iron was enough, and 3-iron might take him over the green and down the bank into the water. The South African opted to hit a high cut with his 5-wood and "basically duffed it."

It landed in the middle of the pond.

"But I can’t think about that," said Els, who started the round seven shots behind. "For me to come back all the way, to actually share the lead at that point, was quite nice. I’m disappointed about that, but I’m going to really think about the 63 I shot."

He had to settle for a share of the course record, matched earlier by Rory McIlroy, who finished fourth, and Daisuke Maruyama. It was far more meaningful to McIlroy, the 20-year-old from Northern Ireland who has finished among the top five in six of his last seven tournaments to move to No. 2 in the Race to Dubai on the European Tour.

Ryan Moore, who only qualified for the HSBC Champions by winning his first PGA Tour event in August, closed with a 68 to finish third, two shots behind Mickelson. It should be enough to move him into the top 50 in the world.

"That’s my goal every tournament, even just going into the weekend, to just have a chance to be in the mix of things," Moore said. "And I did that this week."

Mickelson has won the HSBC Champions twice in three years, while Woods has yet to win. Even sweeter is playing with Woods, although Lefty didn’t realize it was the first time he had won while playing with Woods in the last group.

"It always feels good to win any tournament, but certainly when you have a chance to go head-to-head," he said. "Although, I know he didn’t play his best today."

Tiger arrives Down Under

MELBOURNE, Australia — Tiger Woods arrived in Australia on his private plane Monday, days ahead of his first appearance in an Australian tournament in 11 years.

Woods will receive $3 million in appearance fees to play in the Australian Masters, which starts Thursday at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath.

The most recent of Woods’ three previous tournament appearances in Australia was as a 21-year-old member of the U.S. team that lost the 1998 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

Woods tied for sixth on Sunday in WGC event in Shanghai.

LPGA

Bo Bae Song wins Mizuno Classic

SHIMA, Japan — South Korea’s Bo Bae Song won the Mizuno Classic on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour title, closing with a 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory over top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, Brittany Lang and Hee Young Park.

"Honestly I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so nervous," said Song, the Japan Women’s Open winner last month at Abiko. "I went to bed at 11 last night, but woke up around 3. Usually that doesn’t happen."

The 23-year-old Song finished at 15-under 201 at Kintetsu Kashikojima and earned $210,000 in the event co-sanctioned by the Japan LPGA.

She’s comfortable on the Japanese tour, making it difficult to decide if she’ll accept an LPGA Tour exemption.

"I don’t know yet," said Song, also the 2008 Daikin Orchid winner in Japan. "I’ve played in several big tournaments when I lived in Korea, but I felt that Japan suits me more. So I still don’t know yet. I’ve been playing in Japan for three years, and if I were to go to the U.S. tour, it’s all a new start for me, so ..."

Ochoa shot a bogey-free 64, and Lang and Park had 68s.

"Now, I can go home happily," said Ochoa, set to begin play Thursday in her own Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara.

"I just thought about doing my best today. I played aggressively."

Jiyai Shin, the 2008 tournament winner clinging to a four-point lead over Ochoa with two events left in the player of the year race, closed with a 69 to tie for fifth with Yani Tseng (67), Mi-Jeong Jeon (69) and Inbee Park (69) at 11 under.

After opening with rounds of 68 and 65 to take a one-stroke lead, Song had six birdies and a bogey — on the par-4 14th — to hold off Ochoa and the other challengers.

"It wasn’t only her," Song said. "A lot of the other players were chasing up, and I felt nervous. Mistakes are inevitable in golf, so I tried to play my golf to have little mistakes as possible."