Phil Mickelson fended off an Ernie Els charge to win the $US7 million ($A7.68 million) HSBC Champions tournament by one stroke on Sunday.
South African Els seemed set to steal a surprising victory when he picked up 10 strokes in 17 sizzling holes at Sheshan, but he melted at the par-five 18th, finding the water hazard in front of the green with a poor second shot before chalking up a bogey.
That left him tied with Mickelson, who was playing two groups behind, and the American took advantage of the reprieve, curling in a lovely 2.5-metre birdie putt at the par-three 17th to regain the lead.
Afforded the luxury of a par at the last, world No.2 Mickelson took no risks and tapped in to score his second victory in three years at this tournament, which this year became a World Golf Championships event.
He carded 69 to finish at 17-under-par 271, collecting $US1.2 million ($A1.32 million) for his second WGC victory.
Els (63) was second on 16-under, with American Ryan Moore (68) in third place on 15-under.
Tiger Woods (72) was five strokes off the pace in a tie for sixth.
Melbourne-bound Woods plunged out of contention when he dropped four shots in the first seven holes, but he fought back with five birdies in seven holes starting at No.9, showing his game is in pretty good shape heading to the Australian Masters.
Geoff Ogilvy closed with an impressive 67 to finish best Australian, equal 10th.
“I played okay (but) let quite a lot of shots go,” said Ogilvy, who finished seven strokes off the pace.
“I’m happy with five-under, don’t get me wrong, but it could have been four or five better.
“The course is there for the taking. It’s nice to get somewhere remotely near a top-10.
“I hit the ball fine the first two days, I just didn’t hole any putts. Golf’s impossible when you’re not holing putts.
Robert Allenby (69) was equal 23rd at seven-under, followed by Scott Strange at three-under, Rod Pampling at one-under, Greg Chalmers at even and Nathan Green at five-over.
Despite finishing equal 40th, Pampling expressed mild satisfaction with his game heading to the Australian Masters, where he will have his work cut out to defend his title.
“A little bit of luck would be nice, but that’s just golf,” he said.
“There are not many trees in play and I hit it under one today and it was dead. It was not a good shot but it doesn’t have to finish there.
“I’m hitting a lot of really good shots. I worked on a few things to try to hit it a little straighter for next week. It’s not that far away. Everything feels good.”
