"Pebble Beach . . . it feels awesome no matter what number it is," Mickelson said.
It was anything but that for Woods, who was reduced to a supporting role. Right when it looked as though Woods might still be in the game after holing a bunker shot for birdie on the par-3 12th, Mickelson answered by pouring in a 30-foot par putt.
Mickelson seized control for good with a 40-foot par save on the 15th hole, and he played it safe on the 18th hole and still made birdie.
Wi, who started the final round with a three-shot lead, four-putted for double bogey on the opening hole and never quite recovered. He closed with back-to-back birdies for an even-par 72 and his fifth runner-up finish on tour.
It was the third straight week on tour that the winner started the final round at least six shots behind a 54-hole leader going after his first tour victory.
The shocker, though, was how Woods fell apart.
He has been making big strides with his game over the past few months, and he looked poised to break through after a 67 in the third round at Pebble Beach got him to within four shots of the lead.
But he failed to make birdie on the easy opening stretch at Pebble Beach, and even when he made his first birdie at the par-5 sixth, Mickelson poured in a 20-foot eagle putt to take the outright lead.
"I didn't hit it as bad as the score indicated, but I putted awful," Woods said. "As good as I felt on the greens [Saturday], I felt bad today. Anything I tried to do wasn't working. Consequently, I made a ton of mistakes on the green."
Mickelson finished at 17-under 269 and earned $1.152 million for his first win since the Houston Open last year. He will move to No. 11 in the world, up from 17.
In other golf news:
* Corey Pavin made a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Peter Senior and win the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla., for his first Champions Tour title.
* Jessica Korda, an 18-year-old from Bradenton, Fla., won the Women's Australian Open in Melbourne on a 25-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a six-player playoff. Korda's father, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open tennis title.
* Rafael Cabrera-Bello shot a 4-under 68 to beat Lee Westwood and Stephen Gallacher by a stroke in the Dubai Desert Classic.
* South Africa will stage a new World Golf Championships tournament beginning in 2013. The $8.5 million Tournament of Hope, the fifth WGC event, will be held Nov. 28-Dec. 1 next year and is likely to clash with Tiger Woods' Chevron Challenge.
