Mickelson Putts On Quite A Performance To Capture Bay Hill

Phil Mickelson practiced on the putting green until dark on the eve of the final round and then made it pay off Sunday, pulling away from the pack with a silky stroke to win the Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando, Fla.

Mickelson rolled in a 40-foot eagle putt from the fringe on No. 12, the key hole of his 7-under-par 65 that gave him a three-stroke victory over Stuart Appleby.

Mickelson finished at 16-under 272. He earned $270,000 for his 10th PGA Tour victory, along with the gray blazer and Scottish-styled sword that comes with winning Arnold Palmer’s tournament.

“Going into today, I was trying to think that this was Arnie’s tournament and what would he do?” Mickelson said. “He’d put on a charge, so that’s what I tried to do.”

Laura Davies became the first LPGA player to win the same tournament four consecutive years, rolling in a 3-foot par putt on the first playoff hole to beat Kelly Robbins in the Standard Register Ping at Phoenix.

Robbins forced sudden-death by rolling in a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.

Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum, Idaho, finished at 291, 14 strokes behind Davies and Robbins and one ahead of Clarkston’s Robin Walton.

Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal, sidelined 18 months with a foot injury, fired a 6-under-par 67 and won the $560,000 Turespana Masters in San Fernando, Canary Islands.

Olazabal finished at 20-under 272, two strokes ahead of Lee Westwood of England.