Mickelson Manages to Avert Another Fade at the Finish

Two weeks earlier, Phil Mickelson had self-destructed at the PGA Championship, blowing a two-stroke lead with 27 holes to play to finish tied for eighth.

Even though he wobbled at times Sunday, Mickelson showed he learned from that experience by firing birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to win the World Series of Golf by three strokes at Akron, Ohio.

“It’s important for a player’s confidence to close the deal,” Mickelson said after his fourth victory of the year. “Having a three-shot lead, it was a tournament I had to play poorly to give it away. I had to come back to the field.”

A string of four ugly tee shots starting at 11 led to two bogeys and two superlative saves. A three-stroke lead to start the day was gone, but Mickelson didn’t melt.

At the 625-yard 16th, Mickelson lofted a wedge over the pin and spun it back more than 20 feet. It came to rest two feet from the pin and Mickelson tapped it in to go ahead of Billy Mayfair, who missed a 20-foot birdie putt. Mayfair tied for second at 277 with Duffy Waldorf and Steve Stricker.

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Guy Boros shot a par round of 71 for his first PGA Tour victory, a one-shot win in the inaugural $1-million Greater Vancouver Open at Surrey, Canada.

Boros, the son of two-time U.S. Open champion Julius Boros, finished with a 12-under total of 272, a stroke ahead of Emlyn Aubrey, who closed with a 67, Lee Janzen, 71, and Taylor Smith, 72.

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Laura Davies shot a two-under-par 70 for a three-stroke victory in the Star Bank LPGA Classic at Beavercreek, Ohio. She had a 12-under 204 total. Maggie Will and Pat Hurst tied for second.

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Jim Dent broke out of a three-way tie with a five-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the $800,000 Bank of Boston Senior PGA championship. Dent, 57, rallied from two strokes off the pace for a five-under-par 67 and a 54-hole total of 204, beating Tom Wargo and Jay Sigel by one shot.