Golf: Mickelson grabs second tour win

Phil Mickelson sealed his second PGA Tour victory of the year yesterday, beating Billy Andrade by one stroke in the Greater Hartford Open golf tournament.

Mickelson, who had squandered 54-hole leads in three previous tournaments this year, fired a final-round 68 for an aggregate 16-under 264 at Cromwell, in Connecticut.

Andrade carded a 66 to finish on 265, one shot ahead of David Berganio jun, Chris DiMarco and Dudley Hart.

New Zealand's Frank Nobilo finished in a tie for 22nd, eight shots behind Mickelson, after a final round of 69 gave him a total of 272.

The other New Zealanders in the field - Grant Waite, David Smail and Craig Perks - missed the cut.

Mickelson fed off his nine-under 61 in the third round to break through for the first time since the Buick Invitational in February.

He became the tour's fourth multiple winner of 2001, joining Tiger Woods (three) and Joe Durant and Sergio Garcia (two each).

Mickelson avoided the errors which had undone him in previous tournaments. He remained patient while other contenders took their shots and missed.

"It was nice to win, especially with the opportunities I've had earlier," said Mickelson, who boosted his 2001 earnings above $US3.5 million ($8.6 million) with the $US558,000 payoff.

"I was much more confident and more relaxed, something I've had difficulty overcoming this year."

Andrade's final-round 66 was his second strong finish in as many weeks, after a shared third place at the Buick Classic.

Like the other contenders, Andrade could not muster a serious charge when he needed it.

"Nobody really put any pressure on Phil today and that's probably why he won the tournament," Andrade said.

* Colin Montgomerie scored his first European Tour golf victory in 57 weeks when he shot a final round of 66 to win the Irish Open by five strokes yesterday.

It was the first time in his 25 European Tour victories that he led after every round, following scores of 63 - a record for the Fota Island course - 69 and 68.

Montgomerie has now won the Irish Open three times. He was successful in 1996 and 1997 at Druids Glen and is the fourth player to win it that often. The others are Severiano Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer.

Nicolas Fasth, of Sweden, fired an eight-under 63 to match Montgomerie's three-day-old course record and finish joint second with Irishmen Padraig Harrington, who finished with a 64, and Darren Clarke.

Clarke scraped into the final two rounds when he birdied the last hole on Saturday with a 10ft putt, then carded scores of 65 and 64.

Montgomerie finished with an 18-under total of 266. The three runners-up carded 271.

- AGENCIES