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Mickelson holds off Woods challenge

04/09/2007

Phil Mickelson carded a five-under-par round of 66 on the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship to pip Tiger Woods to the title at the Boston TPC.

A late run of three birdies in five holes from Woods looked to have put the big-hitting left-hander under pressure on the back nine, but he held his nerve superbly to win by two shots.

Mickelson matched Woods' birdies on 16 and 18 to ease home but he only had himself to blame for giving the world number one the chance to get back into contention after carding a double-bogey on the par-four 12th.

Overnight leader Brett Wetterich could not keep pace with the top-rated pair as he could manage only a one-under-par round of 70 to finish tied for second alongside Woods and Arron Oberholser.

The victory for Mickelson lifts him back up to second in the overall world rankings above American countryman Jim Furyk and his top-70 finish in the tournament means he successfully qualifies for the next round of the FedEx Cup play-offs in Chicago, Illinois.

And after the BMW Championship there in the Midwest, the top 30 players will progress to the Tour Championship in Atlanta for the last chance to accumulate points in the FedEx Cup, with the winner collecting a $10 million (£4.97 million) bonus.