Phil Mickelson defended his Greater Hartford Open title after making a short birdie putt on the final hole.

Mickelson carded a brilliant six-under-par 64 to edge Jonathan Kaye and Davis Love III by a stroke in Connecticut.

He finished with a four-round total of 14-under 266, two shots off the score he posted en route to last year's title.

Mickelson became the first player to repeat as champion in the 50-year history of the event.

The world number two holed an eagle from the fairway at the seventh and overcame a bogey at the 17th with four birdies on the back nine, then put his approach at the last close to the hole before making another birdie.

The victory was the second of the season for Mickelson, who is second to Tiger Woods among active players on the PGA Tour with 21 career titles.

Kaye, the third-round leader, had the best chance to force a play-off but badly missed a 12-foot birdie putt at the final hole.

He tapped in for par to tie Love for second place on 267 - his fourth runner-up finish in 164 PGA Tour starts.

Love also had a birdie putt to join Mickelson at 266 but pulled a 15-footer and settled for the 22nd runner-up finish of his career.

Scott Verplank, who shares the course record of 61 with Mickelson, was fourth at 269, a stroke better than Joel Edwards and Jim Carter.

Edwards jumped from 30th to fifth with a superb closing round of 63.

Collated scores after the final round of the Greater Hartford Open, TPC at River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut (USA unless stated, Par 70):

266 Phil Mickelson 69 67 66 64

267 Jonathan Kaye 65 67 65 70, Davis Love III 68 64 68 67

269 Scott Verplank 65 70 63 71

270 Jim Carter 67 69 66 68, Joel Edwards 68 71 68 63

271 Dan Forsman 68 70 69 64, Scott Hoch 67 66 66 72, Skip Kendall 65 72 67 67

272 Jeff Gove 73 64 68 67, Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 70 69 64, David Frost (Rsa) 72 68 67 65

273 Mathew Goggin 66 70 70 67, Hidemichi Tanaka (Jpn) 64 70 68 71, Pat Bates 70 71 64 68, Tim Herron 65 72 66 70, Kenny Perry 70 71 64 68

274 Briny Baird 65 67 73 69, Billy Andrade 70 70 69 65

275 Peter Lonard (Aus) 66 68 70 71, Stephen Allan (Aus) 66 72 67 70, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 69 67 69 70, Kaname Yokoo (Jpn) 65 68 71 71, Mark Calcavecchia 68 70 68 69, Frank Nobilo (Nzl) 69 69 71 66, Steve Pate 66 70 66 73, Brett Quigley 64 71 70 70

276 Paul Gow (Aus) 73 66 64 73, Kent Jones 70 68 69 69, Kirk Triplett 66 70 69 71, Robin Freeman 69 70 70 67, Len Mattiace 70 64 73 69

277 Charles Howell III 71 69 72 65, Ed Fryatt (Gbr) 72 68 68 69, Notah Begay III 67 72 69 69, Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 71 66 70, Stewart Cink 69 72 67 69, David Peoples 69 65 70 73

278 Tim Petrovic 71 68 68 71, Danny Ellis 71 67 70 70, Michael Clark II 69 72 67 70, Glen Hnatiuk (Can) 66 71 69 72, Joey Sindelar 68 70 71 69, Grant Waite (Nzl) 69 68 68 73, Olin Browne 72 64 70 72, Chris DiMarco 70 66 71 71, Jay Don Blake 72 68 69 69, Mike Hulbert 70 69 69 70

279 James Driscoll 69 72 67 71, Chris Riley 70 66 70 73, John Huston 69 71 71 68, Peter Jacobsen 67 69 70 73, Tom Pernice Jr 68 71 72 68

280 Tripp Isenhour 69 67 72 72, Brandt Jobe 67 70 73 70, Esteban Toledo (Mex) 74 64 72 70, Steve Elkington (Aus) 70 71 72 67, Robert Gamez 70 69 71 70, Dudley Hart 72 68 72 68, Frank Lickliter II 68 72 67 73, Corey Pavin 67 74 72 67

281 Fulton Allem (Rsa) 71 69 69 72

282 Brian Bateman 73 68 69 72, John Riegger 71 70 72 69, Tommy Armour III 70 69 68 75, Brad Faxon 74 66 69 73, Dicky Pride 68 73 69 72

283 Craig Barlow 70 69 68 76

284 Brad Elder 72 68 72 72, Joe Ogilvie 70 69 74 71, Billy Mayfair 71 70 71 72

286 Willie Wood 69 72 74 71

287 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 71 71 76, Brian Henninger 72 69 68 78, Carl Paulson 68 66 81 72

288 Deane Pappas (Rsa) 67 72 77 72

PA International