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Quiet American David Toms won the United States PGA championship with a 10-foot closing putt in Atlanta - and with it clinched a Ryder Cup debut for himself.

The putt consigned Phil Mickelson to more major championship heartache.

After setting the lowest total in major history with his 14-under-par 266, the left-hander's record lasted for less than a minute as Toms stepped forward and made the decisive putt for a closing 69 and 15 under aggregate of 265.

The 34-year-old went into the week 14th in the United States cup table, but the victory lifted him all the way to fifth in Curtis Strange's side for The Belfry next month.

Toms needed to finish sixth to move into the top 10 to be part of Strange's line-up and thanks to his hole-in-one on the 15th in the third round he was aiming much higher after setting a major championship 54-hole record.

Two behind with a round to play, Mickelson drew level three times, the last of them with a dramatic chip-in on Toms' return to the 15th.

But Mickelson then three-putted the 16th and with a 30-footer for birdie at the last left it three inches short.

Toms had decided to lay up short of the water from 210 yards on the 490-yard 18th - the longest closing par four ever in majors.

It proved a great decision. He hit his pitch just left of the flag and after watching Mickelson leave his short he found the middle of the cup with his par putt.

"I just thought it was the best way to make par," said the new champion. "I really didn't want to, but I'm so glad I did now."

With no Tiger Woods to worry about - he closed on one under with a 70 and so, little more than two months after holding all four majors, ends the year with only the Masters - the two Americans were centre stage.

That remained the case even when Colin Montgomerie was disqualified for signing for a wrong score and Scott Hoch had the third hole-in-one of the weekend when he aced the 207-yard 17th.

Toms showed the first sign of frailty when he missed from just over two feet on the 10th and he then three-putted the long 12th for par to allow Mickelson back level with a birdie.

The pendulum swung Toms' way again when he pitched to six feet on the next and followed that putt with a 20-footer at the 14th.

But after Mickelson appeared to have regained the initiative on the next he handed the advantage back and so finished with his 14th top 10 finish in majors without a single win.

"It seems like every time I caught him I made a mistake," said Mickelson. "The last three holes were critical and I was hoping he would go for it on the last.

"I played well, but not well enough and that's going to make for a tough off-season."

Their fellow American Steve Lowery was third and Japan's engaging Shingo Maruyama shared fourth with Mark Calcavecchia.

Montgomerie's season of disappointment in the majors was complete when he failed to spot that playing partner and fellow Scot Andrew Oldcorn had put him down for a par three on the seventh, whereas he had in fact three-putted it for a bogey four.

The seven-time European No 1, already well out of the hunt for the title, actually finished with a 72 for a six over aggregate of 285, but signed for a 71 and five over.

The error came to light after Montgomerie had left the course, but he would have finished just 70th of the 76 players and it cost him "only" about £6,000.

Oldcorn had his own disappointment despite shooting one of the rounds of the day - a 67 for one over.

His 44th place was not enough to take him from 15th on the Ryder Cup table into the top 12 and so into this week's world championship in Akron.

He will be playing instead in the Scottish PGA championship at Gleneagles starting on Thursday.

"With the top 12 not at Gleneagles the field will be weaker there and I've got to try," he said. "I am a wee bit burnt out and if it wasn't for the Ryder Cup I probably wouldn't play, even though I can stay at home.

"Winning the Scottish PGA is worth the same number of points as finishing fourth in the world championship, so there's a lot to play for still."

Luton's Ian Poulter was able to breathe a sigh of relief after Andrew Coltart just failed in his bid to oust him from the world championship.

Coltart had to finish 28th and was joint 20th after going to the turn in 33 and then grabbing another birdie at the 12th, but he bogeyed three of the last five and finished 37th.

"I'm very disappointed," he said. "I had plenty of opportunities, but didn't take them."

Phillip Price will be in Akron, but spoke about the pressure of trying to secure a Ryder Cup debut after coming in 59th.

By finishing the United States PGA championship on the three-over-par total of 283 - he shot a closing 70 - Price hung on to the 10th and last automatic place in the Ryder Cup table.

Only two weeks remain in the year-long race and the 34-year-old, who became a father for the first time last December, said: "I will be relieved when it's all resolved.

"I've given everything I've got and I'm not doing things with my wife and little boy I'd like to.

"It's irritating. The last few weeks have become a bit of a grind. I would like to have got this over with ages ago, but I've not been playing as well as I would have liked."

What Coltart would have given for Paul McGinley's finish - three successive birdies for a 67 and two under aggregate for 22nd.

Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, meanwhile, closed on two over with rounds of 70 and 68 respectively, while Lee Westwood eagled the long 12th for the second day running, but finished bogey-bogey-double bogey for 74 and one over.

Leading European in 13th spot on four under was Swede Jesper Parnevik, but he will probably still need a Ryder Cup wild card along with Sergio Garcia.

Collated final-round scores

(USA unless stated, par 70):

265 D Toms 66 65 65 69 (655,783 dollars)

266 P Mickelson 66 66 66 68 (393,750)

268 S Lowery 67 67 66 68 (248,020)

270 M Calcavecchia 71 68 66 65, S Katayama (Jpn) 67 64 69 70 (155,888 each)

272 B Andrade 68 70 68 66 (122,609)

274 S Hoch 68 70 69 67, S Verplank 69 68 70 67, J Furyk 70 64 71 69 (106,728 each)

275 K Triplett 68 70 71 66, J Leonard 70 69 67 69, D Duval 66 68 67 74

276 S Flesch 73 67 70 66, J Parnevik (Swe) 70 68 70 68, E Els (Rsa) 67 67 70 72

277 J Coceres (Arg) 69 68 73 67, R Allenby (Aus) 69 67 73 68, D Hart 66 68 73 70, M Weir (Can) 69 72 66 70, C DiMarco 68 67 71 71, S Appleby (Aus) 66 70 68 73

278 B Baird 70 69 72 67, P McGinley (Irl) 68 72 71 67, S Maruyama (Jpn) 68 72 71 67, B Gay 70 68 69 71, C Howell 71 67 69 71, M O'Meara 72 63 70 73, P Azinger 68 67 69 74

279 C Franco (Par) 67 72 71 69, G Norman (Aus) 70 68 71 70, B Tway 69 69 71 70, N Price (Zim) 71 67 71 70, T Woods 73 67 69 70, C Smith 69 71 68 71, N Fasth (Swe) 66 69 72 72, KJ Choi (Kor) 66 68 72 73

280 A Coltart (Gbr) 67 72 71 70, F Couples 70 69 70 71, JM Olazabal (Spa) 71 70 68 71, A Cabrera (Arg) 69 69 70 72, B Estes 67 65 75 73, R Goosen (Rsa) 69 70 66 75, D Love 71 67 65 77

281 A Oldcorn 73 67 74 67, H Sutton 67 71 73 70, R Schuller 68 70 72 71, K Perry 68 70 71 72, J Kelly 69 67 72 73, L Westwood (Gbr) 71 68 68 74, G Chalmers (Aus) 68 70 69 74

282 I Woosnam (Gbr) 71 70 73 68, T Pernice 69 69 74 70, C Riley 68 71 73 70, N Faldo (Gbr) 67 74 71 70, J Durant 68 71 72 71, F Lickliter 71 69 71 71, S Dunlap 69 72 70 71, V Singh (Fij) 73 68 70 71

283 P Price (Gbr) 68 69 76 70, G Waite (Nzl) 64 74 73 72, B Faxon 66 70 74 73, S Cink 68 72 71 72

284 J Kaye 67 68 78 71, S Kendall 72 67 73 72, T Bjorn (Den) 67 71 73 73

285 T Watson 69 70 76 70, S Stricker 75 65 75 70, R Damron 68 73 71 73, R Mediate 71 65 73 76

286 F Funk 66 74 71 75, S McCarron 69 67 73 77

287 J Huston 67 68 75 77

291 B May 71 70 76 74

293 P Stankowski 67 71 76 79

294 S Pate 71 69 71 83

Disqualified C Montgomerie (Gbr)