Colin Montgomerie suffered another heartbreaking near-miss in a major championship after an extraordinary finish to the US Open at Winged Foot.

Australia's Geoff Ogilvy won his first major title after Phil Mickelson, chasing his third major in succession, threw away a one-shot lead with a double-bogey six on the 18th.

Montgomerie had also double-bogeyed the 18th from the middle of the fairway when a par four would have been good enough for his first major title at the 58th attempt.

A bogey would have meant an 18-hole play-off for Montgomerie with Ogilvy.

Ogilvy's final round of 72 gave him a five-over-par winning total of 285, one ahead of Montgomerie (71), Mickelson (74) and 2003 champion Jim Furyk (70).

Ireland's Padraig Harrington was a shot further back in fifth after a closing 71.

Montgomerie, twice a runner-up in the event and third as far back as 1992, was two shots behind Mickelson as he surveyed a curling 60ft putt on the 17th green.

It looked a tough task even to get down in two for par but the 42-year-old Scot rolled it in for an improbable birdie, just seconds before Mickelson, playing two groups behind, bogeyed the 16th.

The 42-year-old Scot then hit a perfect drive down the 18th but hit a poor approach short of the green.

From heavy rough he was only able to pitch to 30ft and then three-putted for a double-bogey six.

Ogilvy, a distant relative of Sir Angus Ogilvy - a member of the Royal family - then saved par on the 18th to set the clubhouse target, leaving Mickelson needing a par four to win.

However, the world number two hit a wild drive which bounced back into play off a marquee to the left of the fairway.

From there his attempted recovery caught a tree and remained in the rough, and his third caught a greenside bunker.

From a "fried egg" lie, Mickelson was unable to keep the ball on the green and missed the return chip which would have forced a play-off.

Montgomerie was denied victory in 1992 by an inspired final round from Tom Kite, lost a play-off to Ernie Els in 1994 and was second to Els again in 1997.

And he admitted: "It's the first time I've really messed up. My other chances other people have done well, this is the first time I've really messed up."

He revealed he had changed from a six-iron to a seven-iron on the 18th, adding: "I thought adrenalin would kick in, but I caught it slightly heavy and it went right.

"It was a poor shot, no question about it, and I put myself in a poor position."

Mickelson, who celebrated his 36th birthday on Friday, shared the overnight lead with England's Kenneth Ferrie and moved in front for the first time with a birdie on the fourth.

The left-hander was struggling to find the narrow fairways however and bogeyed three of the next five holes, including moving the ball just a few yards from heavy rough on the fifth.

After 10 holes he was in a four-way tie with Montgomerie, Ogilvy and Furyk, but a birdie on the 11th edged him in front of the chasing pack again.

There has not been a bogey-free round in the US Open since the second round at Pinehurst last year however, and Mickelson duly dropped a shot at the par-three 13th after finding a greenside bunker.

A birdie on the 14th regained him the lead, and despite another bogey on the 16th, he still needed just to par the last to join Ben Hogan (1953) and Tiger Woods (2000) as the only players to win three majors in succession.

The 18th had been a costly hole all week however, and for no-one more than Harrington.

The Dubliner ran up a triple-bogey seven in his third round, and bogeyed it again in his last round after also dropping shots at the 16th and 17th.

"I'm very disappointed," said Harrington. "Three pars to win the Open. It probably doesn't get any easier than that. I hit three good tee shots and got it in play but that's the way it goes.

"I certainly ruined this one. I was never happy with my game and it just caught me out a little bit at the end.

"I knew I was there or thereabouts and I was trying to make birdies on the last three holes."

A hugely disappointed Mickelson said: "I'm still in shock that I did that. I'm such an idiot.

"I just can't believe I couldn't par the last. It really stings. This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won.

"I had it in my grasp and let it go. This is going to take a while to get over."