Phil Mickelson could not hide his relief after returning to winning ways for the first time in 19 months at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

The 34-year-old left-hander ended his victory drought when edging out Skip Kendall on the first play-off hole at La Quinta in California.

Both narrowly missed the green with their second shots at the par-five 18th but Mickelson produced the better chip and birdied from close range after Kendall had failed from 15ft.

The win was Mickelson's 22nd on the PGA Tour but his first since taking this event and the Greater Hartford Open in 2002.

"This one means a lot and I hadn't been that nervous for a long, long time," said Mickelson.

"My form and scores in practice had been very encouraging and this bodes well for a good 2004 after struggling last year."

Both leaders had finished on 30 under after five rounds of regulation play, Mickelson closing with a four-under-par 68 while Kendall carded a 65.

Jay Haas was one shot back in third after a closing 67 while Jonathan Kaye moved up to fourth on 28 under thanks to a 64.

Sweden's Jesper Parnevik fired a 68 to join Ben Crane and Kenny Perry on 26 under for a share of fifth while Germany's Bernhard Langer was alone in eighth after a 64.

Collated final round scores (USA unless stated, par 72):

330 Phil Mickelson 68 63 64 67 68 (won play-off at the 18th hole), Skip Kendall 63 68 68 66 65

331 Jay Haas 65 68 64 67 67

332 Jonathan Kaye 67 70 66 65 64

334 Kenny Perry 64 66 69 64 71, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 67 68 66 65 68, Ben Crane 68 64 65 69 68

335 Bernhard Langer (Den) 67 67 69 68 64

336 Kirk Triplett 66 65 68 63 74, J.L. Lewis 68 68 69 64 67, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 67 67 66 66, Paul Azinger 67 65 66 69 69, Chris Riley 68 64 69 70 65, Kent Jones 69 65 68 68 66, Harrison Frazar 73 67 66 63 67

337 Steve Flesch 72 66 63 68 68, Mark O'Meara 72 69 67 65 64, Jeff Sluman 68 67 66 70 66, Rocco Mediate 70 67 65 69 66

338 Scott Verplank 70 64 71 68 65, Stephen Ames (Tri) 68 72 64 69 65, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 69 67 63 71 68, Loren Roberts 67 67 66 66 72, Zach Johnson 66 67 70 66 69, Duffy Waldorf 71 67 65 69 66

339 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 64 70 67 67, Joe Durant 74 67 68 65 65, Danny Ellis 71 63 67 64 74, Dean Wilson 67 65 69 68 70

340 Justin Leonard 65 71 69 68 67, John Daly 68 68 65 72 67, Joe Ogilvie 66 67 68 68 71, Jerry Kelly 65 71 70 67 67, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 66 70 64 68 72, John Riegger 69 63 71 70 67

341 Bob Estes 69 68 71 66 67, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 69 71 67 68 66, Tom Pernice Jnr. 70 65 68 69 69, Lee Janzen 66 73 67 68 67, Robert Damron 72 67 64 70 68

342 Bob Burns 68 69 63 71 71, Billy Andrade 69 68 71 63 71, Notah Begay III 68 66 67 71 70, Steve Pate 67 67 67 72 69, Mike Weir (Can) 70 67 68 70 67, John Senden (Aus) 66 72 62 73 69

343 Paul Stankowski 68 69 69 69 68, Marco Dawson 69 73 66 66 69, Kevin Na (Kor) 68 68 68 71 68

344 Robert Gamez 71 69 60 69 75, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 67 69 66 71 71, Stewart Cink 71 68 68 70 67, Peter Jacobsen 67 70 69 71 67, Michael Allen (Irl) 70 67 68 71 68, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 74 69 69 64 68

345 Donnie Hammond 68 72 68 67 70, Chad Campbell 70 68 70 67 70, Neal Lancaster 70 69 68 70 68, Steve Elkington (Aus) 68 70 68 71 68, Scott McCarron 76 64 69 65 71, Todd Fischer 68 67 63 70 77

346 Spike McRoy 74 67 67 69 69, Grant Waite (Nzl) 68 67 68 73 70, John Huston 70 70 66 68 72, Mark Calcavecchia 72 65 68 67 74, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 67 66 71 73 69, Kevin Sutherland 74 67 66 68 71, Chris Couch 66 67 70 70 73

347 Tim Petrovic 69 68 73 66 71, Corey Pavin 70 71 68 68 70, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 67 74 64 68 74, J J Henry 72 70 70 65 70

348 Patrick Sheehan 69 69 72 66 72

349 Steve Lowery 73 70 69 65 72, Glen Hnatiuk (Can) 67 74 65 71 72

350 Brenden Pappas (Rsa) 67 69 71 70 73, Cameron Beckman 72 68 69 68 73

351 Ian Leggatt (Can) 73 70 68 65 75

353 Patrick Moore 72 71 68 66 76