Sergio Garcia won his first US PGA Tour title after firing a superb
final-round seven-under-par 63 to capture the Mastercard Colonial at Fort Worth,
Texas.
The Spaniard finished at 13-under-par on 267, two strokes ahead of Mickelson
and fellow American Brian Gay with Glen Day fourth on 270.
The lowest front-nine showing of the week, a 29, and a single birdie on the
back-nine were enough for the 21-year-old, the youngest member of the PGA Tour,
to win on his 36th start in the United States.
"To shoot a 63, and it could have been lower with the wind and the way I have
been playing, I'm very proud of myself," Garcia said.
"It's very special. It's something I was really looking forward to. This will
help me in my career. I'm really happy with the way it has gone."
Garcia began the day five strokes behind Mickelson, who played the last 11
holes in four-over-par for a level-par 70.
Trailing by a stroke, Mickelson sent his approach at the 17th hole off a
grandstand, made a stunning chip to two-feet but then blew a par-putt, pushing
it left and watching it lip off the left edge.
Garcia's long-awaited triumph came after the prodigy, who duelled with Tiger
Woods before losing at the 1999 PGA Championship, had won more than 70 events as
an amateur and claimed two titles in 1999 as a rookie on the European Tour.
Collated final scores and totals (USA unless
stated, Par 70):
267 S Garcia (Spa) 69 69 66 63
269 P Mickelson 65 68 66 70, B Gay 66 69 69 65
270 G Day 68 72 64 66
272 J Leonard 69 67 70 66, S Maruyama (Jpn) 72 65 65 70, B Quigley 69 64 66 73
273 R Mediate 72 62 69 70, C Pavin 68 64 73 68, D Toms 67 70 66 70
274 P-U Johansson (Swe) 69 68 68 69, J Parnevik (Swe) 70 69 67 68, V Singh
(Fij) 69 68 69 68, M Sposa 71 66 67 70
275 R Allenby (Aus) 72 68 65 70, T Lehman 67 68 68 72, J Sluman 71 64 69 71, K
Triplett 68 67 70 70, G Chalmers (Aus) 71 69 67 68
278 F Allem (Rsa) 68 73 67 70, S Ames (Tri) 68 71 66 73
279 J Coceres (Arg) 70 67 70 72, G Ogilvy (Aus) 70 70 68 71
280 F Nobilo (Nzl) 70 68 72 70
282 D Frost (Rsa) 73 69 70 70
284 M Weir (Can) 70 71 68 75
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