Mickelson ends his long wait for win

Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson defeated Justin Thomas in a play-off after an extraordinary climax to the WGC-Mexico Championship to claim his first victory since the 2013 Open.

Mickelson parred the first extra hole to become, at the age of 47, the oldest winner of a World Golf Championship event. It is the 43rd title of his career.

Thomas failed to get up and down from the back of the 17th green, the same hole he had three-putted in regulation to kick-start a remarkable sequence of events.

The US PGA champion, who won the Honda Classic in a playoff a week earlier, then holed his approach to the 72nd hole for an eagle two to set a clubhouse target of 16 under par, which looked difficult to catch.

But England’s Tyrrell Hatton also reached 16 under thanks to birdies on the 12th and 14th and an eagle of his own on the 15th, while playing partner Mickelson birdied the 15th and 16th to make it a three-way tie.

That tie was broken when Hatton bogeyed the final hole of regulation and meant the 26-year-old had to settle for a share of third with Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello, who had birdied the same hole in his closing 67.

“I can’t put into words how much this means to me,” said Mickelson, who had finished fifth, second and sixth in his previous three starts.