Check Is His for Taking : Golf: San Diego’s Mickelson wins his first tournament as a pro on the Torrey Pines course he walked as a youth.

Phil Mickelson wore a wide smile as he approached the final green of the Buick Invitational of California at Torrey Pines on Sunday.

The tournament wasn’t quite over, but Mickelson knew he had it won, and so did the wildly cheering group of family and friends waiting at the finish line. The young left-hander from San Diego wound up with a birdie that gave him a 65 and a four-shot victory over Dave Rummells.

Mickelson totaled 278 for the 72 holes, 10 under par.

He had won one previous PGA Tour tournament, the Northern Telecom Open in Tucson in 1991, as an amateur while attending Arizona State. But he still considered it a major challenge to get his first victory as a pro.

“When I was a kid, I used to come out here and watch the big guys play and dream of playing here someday,” he said. “To win here gives me a really special feeling.”

The victory was worth $180,000, and Mickelson said: “This time I’m going to accept the check.”

He referred to having turned down the money from his first tour victory because of his amateur status. His earnings going into this tournament were $204,166.

Besides the check, Mickelson won a car from the tournament sponsor. Asked about his plans for it, he said: “I’d like to see my dad have a good ride. My mom got a good ride a couple of weeks ago, and I think it would be nice to see my dad get one, too.”

Hearing this, Mickelson’s beaming father, Phil Sr., said: “Phil bought the two of us a car for Christmas. I get to drive it from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.”

After weather for three days that ranged from terrible to mediocre, the golfers finally were able to play in sunshine and very little wind. Still, only 14 of the record 90 who made the cut shot under 70. Mickelson’s 65 tied defending champion Steve Pate’s round of Saturday for the tournament low.

Pate, one of five two-time winners of the tournament, finished in a tie for 15th at par 288.

There was a different leader after each round--Jay Haas, Payne Stewart and Rummells before Mickelson took charge. Rummells, 35, from Orlando, Fla., has yet to win in seven-plus tour seasons, but didn’t look upon his experience Sunday as a disappointment. He broke par by two strokes with a 70.

“The best I’d finished before was third, and I certainly didn’t blow this one,” Rummells said. “I’m proud of myself, because I never got nervous, even with a gallery that I knew wasn’t rooting for me.”

Stewart, who played in the last threesome with Mickelson and Rummells, placed third at 283. Three former champions--Haas, Jay Don Blake and Greg Twiggs--shared fourth at 285.

It was a second consecutive day of misfortune for Stewart. Saturday, he had been penalized two strokes for making a shot with one foot on a cart path. This time he hit his drive on the sixth hole into a canyon, and that slip-up cost him two more strokes for an unplayable lie.

But Stewart had no excuses. Instead, he had only praise for Mickelson, saying, “With a putter like he has, he’s going to go a long way. With the adrenaline flowing like it was today and the gallery he had, he made it look easy.”

Stewart wore the colors of the San Diego Chargers, and his bright yellow knickers led Mickelson to say in jest, “I thought he was using strategy, making me look at those pants all day.”

Mickelson, a three-time NCAA champion, came close to his second Tucson victory a month ago before skidding to a final-round 75. He began this tournament with the same score before shooting two 69s and Sunday’s 65.

“My experience in Tucson was tough to swallow,” he said. “But I went out today thinking about winning, and even when I started with a bogey, I stayed positive.”

Mickelson had eight birdies Sunday, two coming on putts of 25 and 30 feet. He tied Rummells for the lead with a birdie on the 10th hole, took the lead with a birdie on 12 and pulled away with birdies on 13, 15 and 18.

“The support I got was a big factor,” Mickelson said, “because it gave me momentum when things were kind of stagnant. Once I birdied 15, I knew I was in control.”