After one of the most astonishing endings seen to a tournament in many years, Phil Mickelson eventually emerged victorious in the HSBC Champions, beating Ross Fisher and Lee Westwood in a sudden-death play-off.
The 37 year old American birdied the 538 yard 18th at the second time of asking to see off the challenge of the two Englishmen after all three players had ended the regulation 72 holes on ten under par 278.
However, the mere statistics do little to underline the unbelievable drama which unfolded over the last two hours of play at the Sheshan International Golf Club which had the huge crowds cheering wildly then gasping with disbelief at the rollercoaster which masqueraded as the first event of The 2008 European Tour International Schedule.
With 11 holes to play Mickelson held a comfortable five shot lead and with no-one seemingly able to mount a challenge at the Shanghai venue, the headline writers began dreaming up their back page leads comfortable in the knowledge that the remaining holes would be a walk in the park for the World Number Two.
How wrong they were.
The first signs of a crack came when he bogeyed the eighth and ninth holes before the wheels appeared to have come off completely in the middle stretch of the back nine, bogeying the 12th and 14th and double bogeying the 13th after driving into the water.
A birdie three at the 16th gave the left-hander a glimmer of hope but he still arrived on the 18th tee a shot behind Fisher who had played solidly if not spectacularly to stand at 12 under par for the tournament and on the verge of his second European Tour title of the season after his maiden victory in The KLM Open in August.
The surprise element of the final round came in the shape of Westwood who appeared out of any serious contention when he reached the turn in one over par 37. But the two time winner on The European Tour in 2007 surged back with a superb run turning for home.
The Englishman birdied six holes out of seven from the tenth to thunder home in 30 and indeed, had chances for birdies at each of the last two holes, his putts on both occasions touching the sides of the holes but staying above ground. How, given events which were to come, would he rue those misses.
With Westwood in the clubhouse at ten under par 278 after his closing 67 to set a target he firmly believed would be good enough only for third place, he sat back to watch the final hole unfold.
One shot behind, Mickelson was forgiven for going for the green in two at the 538 yard hole but when his ball disappeared in the water, the prospect of losing another European Tour event – just as he had done in July when he led into the final round of The Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond only to overtaken by Frenchman Gregory Havret – loomed large.
However, he was thrown a sensational lifeline by Fisher who found the left edge of the green in two but, from a tricky lie in the rough, he pitched the ball into the water and proceeded to make double bogey seven, showing immense bravery and courage in the circumstances to hole from eight feet for a seven for a final round of 74 to tie Westwood on ten under.
It left Mickelson, who had pitched past the flag in four in the incredible position of having a putt for a par five to win the tournament outright but it surprised nobody in the crowd that the ball stayed above ground to prolong the drama, the American having to sign in the end for a closing 76.
At the first time of asking on the return to the 18th hole, all three players had birdie putts which missed but on the second occasion, with the light fading fast and Tournament Official pondering the possibility of having to return on Monday morning to finish off, Mickelson triumphed.
Playing the hole in textbook fashion, the three time Major winner found the back of the green in two, played a flop-shot pitch to six feet and holed for a winning birdie to give him his fourth victory in the calendar year of 2007 and his first victory outside the United States since he won the Tournoi Perrier Paris tournament on the European Challenge Tour in 1993.
His task was made easier when, this time, it was Westwood’s turn to find the water on two occasions to immediately rule himself out of the equation and, when Fisher found the greenside bunker with his second shot, he knew he would need to get up and down to continue the play-off. He didn’t.
Although naturally disappointed to have lost, Fisher – who returns home to England to get married this Friday – was able to take lots of positives from the occasion when he again more than held his own in the company of the game’s greats.
“Obviously you come here to win and that wasn’t the case but I think I can walk out of here with my head held very high,” he said. “I played two rounds of golf with Phil Mickelson who, Tiger aside, is the best golfer in the world and I pushed him all the way.
“I finished ahead of some very high quality players in what was a superb field here for the HSBC Champions and although I’m disappointed not to have walked away with the trophy, I still think it’s been a great week.”
On going into the water on the second play-off hole, Westwood said: “I knew everybody else was going to have a go but unfortunately I got into the semi-rough and I had to dig a bit for it and it didn’t quite carry.
“You’ve got to play these things when you’ve got a chance, sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don’t. But, having said that, I was 12 shots behind with nine holes to play and so you don’t really think you’re going to be in there and I was proud that I was.”
Fittingly, on a day of such drama, the final word should be left with the new HSBC champion.
“I don’t really know what to say,” admitted Mickelson. “I can’ really believe I am sitting here as the champion. I was leading by a lot, looked like I had control, then I had six penalty shots, ended up two back with three to play and then ended up in a play-off!
“I don’t really know how the day finished like this but I am certainly excited to be the HSBC champion and I guess that is the most important thing, I guess it doesn’t really matter how. I didn’t really like the back nine but (gesturing at the nearby trophy) I do now.
“I was very pleased at the way the people in China came and supported the golf tournament. I didn’t know that there would be this much support for the event and I found the people to be very courteous and respectful to the players and it was a pleasure to play in China for the first time. I hope the game takes off here.”
