Mickelson wins Houston Open

Golf: US Masters champion Phil Mickelson will head back to Augusta as the man to beat after sealing a superb victory at the Shell Houston Open

He finished the Houston event in style with a closing 65, which included a streak of five birdies from the ninth, to finish three clear of fellow Americans Chris Kirk and Scott Verplank.

Kirk signed for a 67 to earn his first top-two finish on the PGA Tour, and Verplank finished with 68.

Victory for Mickelson ahead of the coming week's first major of the year means he overtakes Tiger Woods in the world rankings for the first time since the 1997 Masters.

He finished on 20-under-par 268, pulling clear of the field with his string of birdies as he completed the back nine in 31.

Mickelson did stumble early on in his final round, with a pair of dropped shots at the second and third holes, both par fours. Those allowed playing partner Verplank to head the leaderboard, but Mickelson soon passed him.

Steve Stricker and Aaron Baddeley tied for fourth place on 13 under, Stricker after a 69 and Baddeley with a closing 71, while Robert Allenby and David Hearn were a shot further back.

Padraig Harrington completed a solid week with a 70, for joint eighth place on 11 under.

Anthony Kim's challenge faded, as a one-over 73 dropped him back into a tie for 13th.

Further down the field, England's Lee Westwood had an eagle-three at the eighth but finished with a dropped shot for a 68. He needed a top-two finish to go back to number one in the world, but ended up tied for 30th.

Westwood's compatriots Brian Davis and Ross Fisher were handily placed heading into the final round, but rounds of 75 and 76 respectively dashed their hopes of finishing in the top 10. Davis wound up joint 48th, with Fisher in a group tied for 51st which included Ernie Els.

Mickelson said on Sky Sports: "I'm very pleased to have played well. I'm just trying to get my game ready and it's not just the physical ball-striking and short game and putting and so forth.

"I've got to maintain my focus throughout the round. There were two points out there today where I just lost focus. Next week at Augusta, that golf course can be very penalising."

Collated final scores and totals, Redstone GC, Humble, Texas

(USA unless stated, par 72):

268 Phil Mickelson 70 70 63 65

271 Chris Kirk 66 69 69 67, Scott Verplank 73 65 65 68

275 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 73 65 66 71, Steve Stricker 67 72 67 69

276 Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 72 67 69, David Hearn (Can) 69 70 66 71

277 Hunter Mahan 70 71 66 70, Brandt Jobe 69 72 68 68, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 70 73 66 68, Matt Kuchar 72 70 67 68, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 68 69 70 70

278 Anthony Kim 72 64 69 73, Chad Campbell 71 70 71 66, Gary Woodland 71 70 69 68

279 Tim Petrovic 70 68 71 70, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 69 70 68, Webb Simpson 72 72 66 69

280 J J Henry 73 70 65 72, David Mathis 70 70 70 70, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 65 74 72 69, Josh Teater 65 72 73 70, Charles Howell III 69 75 69 67

281 Michael Thompson 72 69 70 70, Ben Crane 70 68 73 70, Charley Hoffman 72 68 72 69, John Senden (Aus) 72 69 70 70, Michael Putnam 70 69 69 73, Ben Curtis 70 70 68 73

282 Nathan Green (Aus) 67 73 69 73, Vaughn Taylor 68 71 69 74, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 67 71 70, Jimmy Walker 63 74 72 73, Tommy Gainey 68 73 70 71, Lee Westwood (Eng) 68 72 74 68

283 Ben Martin 73 66 70 74, Nate Smith 69 72 66 76, Zack Miller 68 74 67 74, Cameron Beckman 69 74 67 73, Johnson Wagner 69 67 76 71, Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 70 69 73

284 Michael Bradley 71 71 72 70, J.B. Holmes 73 71 67 73, Bill Lunde 68 71 73 72, Scott Piercy 71 72 69 72, Joseph Bramlett 73 68 72 71, Troy Merritt 72 71 71 70

285 Brian Davis (Eng) 71 72 67 75, Kent Jones 72 72 68 73, John Rollins 67 71 72 75

286 Keegan Bradley 70 73 71 72, Charlie Wi (Kor) 74 70 71 71, Brendan

Steele 67 72 77 70, Ross Fisher (Eng) 71 70 69 76, Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 72 69 74, Steve Elkington (Aus) 68 71 73 74

287 Kris Blanks 69 74 73 71, Billy Mayfair 69 74 71 73, Blake Adams 72 72 67 76

288 D.A. Points 70 72 71 75, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 74 71 73, Kyle

Stanley 70 74 71 73, Jim Renner 71 73 70 74, Boo Weekley 72 72 72 72, Fred Couples 71 72 71 74

289 Steve Marino 72 70 71 76, Kevin Stadler 71 73 72 73, Robert Garrigus 68 72 75 74, Andres Romero (Arg) 73 70 70 76, Roland Thatcher 77 67 69 76, Marc Leishman (Aus) 69 75 71 74, Jim Herman 73 68 75 73

291 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 71 74 77, Cameron Tringale 74 70 66 81

295 Fabian Gomez (Arg) 71 72 73 79