Charles Howell III won the Nissan Open in California on the third sudden-death play-off hole against Phil Mickelson.

It was the longest play-off in the US$5.2 million (£2.66million) tournament since the 1982 three-hole play-off between Tom Watson and Johnny Miller, which Watson won.

Mickelson, who had the outright lead for 16 of 18 holes, shot a final-round three-under 68 to finish 16 under (268), but made a bogey on the final hole to allow Howell to get in to the play-off.

Howell, who began the final round three shots behind Mickelson, shot a final-round 65. Howell earned US$936,000 (£479,224) for the victory.

Both players looked tight in the play-off. On the first hole, neither found the fairway and had to scramble to make par. On the second play-off hole, Mickelson hit a three-wood to the front of the green at the 314-yard hole. Howell snap-hooked his three-wood that came to rest on the cart path by the 11th tee box.

He hit off the cart path between two small trees with low-lying branches but clipped the branch and was barely able to advance the ball. Howell did not even lose his turn and on his next shot he was able to get the ball to two feet.

Mickelson had two chances to end the tournament, but failed on both. His chip caught up in the right rough and stopped 12 feet short. His birdie putt went two feet past the cup.

On the par-three 14th hole, Mickelson's seven-iron landed short of the green.

Howell's tee shot was also short. Mickelson's putt hit a bump before the green and came to rest nine feet short. Howell chipped and had a four-foot par putt. Mickelson's par attempt went three feet past the hole and Howell calmly drained the putt for his second career victory.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington finished seventh at 10 under par.

"I felt like I had the tournament in my grasp and made the bogey on 18," Mickelson said.

"It was certainly disappointing. I just needed to par the last hole. So I certainly will look back and say that there were a lot of opportunities that I let slide."

While Howell, an Augusta native, has called Riviera Country Club his second favourite course next to Augusta National, it certainly was not kind to him four years ago.

Howell had a three-stroke lead in 2003 going into the final round but faltered and allowed Mike Weir to force a play-off. On the second hole of the play-off, number 10, Howell hit his drive into the bunker on the right. Howell got his second shot on the green, but missed a six-foot birdie putt to extend the play-off.

"We have a love/hate relationship," Howell said of the hole.

"I think it's one of the greatest par-fours that we play."

Collated final-round scores & totals (USA unless stated, par 71):

268 Charles Howell III 69 65 69 65 (Won at 3rd playoff hole), Phil Mickelson 66 65 69 68

271 Jim Furyk 67 70 67 67, Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 66 68 68, Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 68 67 67

273 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 67 68 69 69

274 Padraig Harrington (Irl) 63 68 70 73

275 Pat Perez 66 69 75 65

276 Anthony Kim 72 69 71 64, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69 70 67 70, Jeff Quinney 70 70 67 69, Rocco Mediate 71 66 71 68

277 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 69 70 70, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 70 70 68 69, Rich Beem 69 68 65 75, Harrison Frazar 70 72 67 68, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 72 69 68 68

278 John Rollins 70 69 67 72, Bart Bryant 72 68 70 68, Cliff Kresge 70 69 71 68, Steve Elkington (Aus) 69 69 69 71

279 John Daly 70 72 68 69, J J Henry 70 71 70 68, Bill Haas 71 68 69 71, Mike Weir (Can) 74 69 70 66, KJ Choi (Kor) 72 67 66 74, Cameron Beckman 67 71 69 72, Johnson Wagner 71 66 72 70

280 Kevin Stadler 67 75 70 68, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 71 71 68, Vijay Singh (Fij) 68 71 69 72, David Howell (Eng) 67 68 73 72

281 Kevin Na (Kor) 70 69 69 73, Zach Johnson 69 73 70 69, Lucas Glover 69 72 71 69, Stewart Cink 70 71 69 71

282 Kenny Perry 70 73 68 71, Ted Purdy 69 71 72 70, Corey Pavin 72 66 73 71, David Toms 69 70 70 73, Ben Curtis 69 69 69 75, Briny Baird 66 73 67 76, Paul McGinley (Irl) 70 71 69 72

283 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 68 71 75 69, George McNeill 71 70 67 75, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 70 72 72 69, Tim Petrovic 74 68 70 71, Heath Slocum 69 74 72 68, Scott Verplank 70 72 72 69, Jason Bohn 71 69 70 73

284 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 70 72 71, Vaughn Taylor 71 71 68 74, John Senden (Aus) 71 70 71 72, Bo Van Pelt 69 73 71 71, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 70 67 79

285 Kirk Triplett 70 70 73 72, Sean O'Hair 72 71 69 73, Matt Kuchar 71 72 71 71, Tom Lehman 73 66 72 74, Tom Pernice Jnr. 70 69 71 75, Peter Lonard (Aus) 71 70 70 74

286 Justin Rose (Eng) 72 70 72 72, Craig Barlow 71 71 68 76, Kevin Sutherland 76 67 71 72

287 Shaun Micheel 70 69 71 77, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 71 70 72 74

288 Ken Duke 71 72 74 71, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 71 70 72 75

289 Billy Andrade 71 72 73 73, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 74 71 75, Charley Hoffman 69 72 75 73, Adam Scott (Aus) 72 70 75 72, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 73 73 73

290 Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 72 71 70 77

291 Eric Axley 68 73 75 75, Tripp Isenhour 70 71 77 73

292 Chad Campbell 74 67 75 76, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 71 70 75 76

295 Mathew Goggin (Aus) 71 72 78 74