Phil Mickelson conjured up a piece of magic at the final hole to win the Crowne Plaza Invitational on Sunday night.

Seemingly stymied by a clump of trees after a poor drive at the par-four 18th, Mickelson hoisted a wedge over the trouble, his ball landing on the front of the green and trickling up to within nine feet.

He read his birdie putt perfectly, knocking it home to clinch a one-stroke victory over Rod Pampling and Tim Clark after an exciting final round at Colonial Country Club.

Mickelson carded 68 to finish at 14-under-par 266 for his 34th victory on the PGA Tour.

Pampling led for most of the final round, and was one stroke ahead with two holes left, but he pushed his drive into a hazard at the par-four 17th and had to take a penalty stroke.

He did well to salvage a bogey in the end, falling back into a three-way tie for the lead going to the last.

But Pampling, after a great drive at the 18th, hit a poor second shot and left his birdie putt nearly five feet short. But he holed out to shoot 68 and tie for second with Clark (66).

Mickelson described his final-hole wedge as one of the best shots of his career.

"You have to take risks to win and I tried to do that," said the 37-year-old, explaining he had to thread his ball over one tree and under another.

"I'm as surprised as anybody I was able to make a three from over there. I'm thinking if I make par and get into a play-off, that would be great.

"It wasn't like it was an easy shot, but it came off. It was one of my more memorable ones."

Mickelson collected US dollars 1,098,000 for his second PGA Tour victory of 2008.

Playing partner Pampling was philosophical in defeat.

"You get to expect him to do that," he said. "Those guys play those kind of shots.

"I thought I was in great position. I was obviously disheartened."

Earlier, Mickelson started the round with a one-stroke lead over Pampling, who tied it up with a tap-in birdie at the par-five first.

But Mickelson regained the lead with a tap-in birdie at the second, after hitting an exquisite pitch shot, before going two strokes ahead when Pampling bogeyed number three.

Mickelson made a mess of the par-four fifth, firing his approach shot over the green to make bogey, and Pampling drew level at the very next hole when he ran in a monster 50-foot birdie putt.

And Pampling took the lead with a six-foot birdie at the seventh, before extending his advantage to two strokes with a near tap-in at number nine.

Mickelson cut the margin with a two-putt birdie at the par-five 11th, and the two leaders traded pars at the next five holes, although Mickelson dodged a bullet at the par-four 15th when his approach shot from the rough came within a couple of rolls of trickling into the creek behind the green.

But his ball stayed dry and, after a poor first putt, he sank a nine-foot attempt to stay just one shot behind.

Pampling stayed in front with a similar nine-foot par putt at the 16th, but made a nervous swing on the 17th, one bad shot that effectively cost him the tournament.

Collated final round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Colonial CC, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 70):

266 Phil Mickelson 65 68 65 68

267 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 69 67 63 68, Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 69 64 66

269 Stephen Ames (Can) 68 67 64 70

270 Ben Crane 68 68 67 67

272 Pat Perez 72 68 67 65

273 Jeff Quinney 71 68 66 68, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 72 64 69 68

274 Matt Kuchar 70 64 71 69

275 Steve Marino 68 70 71 66, Paul Goydos 68 71 66 70, Brian Gay 69 65 69 72, Mark Wilson 70 67 68 70, Tommy Armour III 71 66 68 70

276 Jerry Kelly 68 71 66 71, Lucas Glover 70 70 65 71, Chris DiMarco 72 69 65 70, Kevin Sutherland 67 68 68 73, Charlie Wi (Kor) 71 70 67 68, Brett Quigley 70 69 67 70, Ryan Palmer 70 70 69 67, Mike Weir (Can) 71 69 66 70, Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 70 69 69, Corey Pavin 67 69 69 71, Briny Baird 68 70 67 71

277 Dean Wilson 72 69 66 70, Nathan Green (Aus) 71 68 71 67, Bart Bryant 72 65 69 71, Sean O'Hair 72 70 66 69, David Toms 72 69 66 70, Heath Slocum 74 68 67 68, Alex Cejka (Ger) 67 72 67 71

278 Richard Johnson (Wal) 67 69 72 70, George McNeill 69 71 68 70, Justin Leonard 70 72 69 67, Ben Curtis 69 71 67 71, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 72 69 70 67, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 70 70 72 66, Mark Brooks 67 68 70 73

279 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 73 68 67 71, Kevin Stadler 71 70 68 70, Anthony Kim 69 72 70 68, Jose Coceres (Arg) 68 69 69 73, Joe Ogilvie 72 70 67 70, Glen Day 66 74 69 70

280 Kenny Perry 70 69 71 70, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 67 73 69 71, Johnson Wagner 63 71 73 73, Brian Bateman 70 65 70 75, Jon Mills (Can) 72 69 69 70, Steve Elkington (Aus) 73 67 72 68

281 Vaughn Taylor 67 68 70 76, Tim Herron 73 67 68 73, Billy Mayfair 71 69 69 72, Brett Wetterich 65 76 72 68, Nicholas Thompson 71 69 69 72, Jason Bohn 73 67 70 71, Ryan Moore 71 68 71 71

282 Brian Davis (Eng) 68 72 70 72, Kevin Na (Kor) 70 71 70 71, Arron Oberholser 70 71 71 70, John Merrick 70 70 70 72, Parker McLachlin 70 70 70 72

283 Robert Garrigus 70 69 67 77, Tag Ridings 69 68 72 74, Steve Lowery 68 67 73 75, James Driscoll 69 70 69 75, Chez Reavie 73 68 72 70

284 Olin Browne 74 68 71 71

285 Bo Van Pelt 72 70 71 72, Rocco Mediate 73 68 70 74

286 Bubba Watson 69 73 69 75

287 Patrick Sheehan 70 72 67 78