Mickelson earned over $1.6m for his victory

Phil Mickelson shot a near flawless 69 to win The Players Championship by two shots from Spain's Sergio Garcia.

Mickelson finished on 11 under par, Garcia surged into second with a 66, while Jose Maria Olazabal shared third with Stewart Cink after a 67.

Sean O'Hair was in contention just two strokes back at the 17th but twice came to grief on the notorious island hole.

England's Luke Donald (74) finished on three under while Tiger Woods (67) ended up 11 shots off the pace.

Donald's day went wrong with consecutive bogies on the 6th, 7th and 8th, and although he managed three birdies on the back nine, two more bogies left him well out of contention.

Sean is an incredibly talented player and today he played well enough to win the tournament Phil Mickelson

O'Hair still had a chance of victory when he and Mickelson reached the 17th, but his first shot sailed over the flag and straight into the water, while his second from the drop zone landed on the green but skipped away into the drink once more.

That seven and another bogey on the 18th dropped him from second place down to 11th and cost him around $500,000 in prize money.

Mickelson produced a textbook final round with four birdies, including the first two holes, and just one bogey at the final hole to claim the $1,620,000 first prize.

606: DEBATE Your thoughts on Mickelson's win

He has been working with coach Butch Harmon, who used to work with his rival Tiger Woods, for just three weeks and has finished third, third and now first in that time.

"It's been a great start and the first three weeks have been very good," Mickelson said.

"I think if I keep working at these things and progressing, I should be ready to take on the ultimate tough challenge at Oakmont [site of the next month's US Open]."

Mickelson carded a final hole double bogey at last year's US Open, a blunder that handed the tournament to Australian Geoff Ogilvy.

"I can't wait for Oakmont, because that's the tournament where I want to make a statement that last year didn't affect me. I want a victory," he added.

"We'll start preparation for the US Open very soon, but in the meantime I plan on spending some more time with Butch in the coming weeks to make sure I continue to progress in the changes and direction we want.

"I'm not ready for the US Open yet. I struck it today the way I need to, but I didn't do it for all four days, and that's what I need to do."

Garcia, meanwhile, denied cheating after being accused by an opponent's caddie of taking an illegal drop.

The Ryder Cup star was visibly irritated over an incident at the par-five second and claimed he was accused by Jerry Knapp, Cliff Kresge's caddie, of taking an incorrect drop from a drainage area next to the green.

"Cliff's caddie wanted to make a big deal, but it wasn't," said Garcia.

"I took relief from the drainage. They were calling me a cheater but I've never cheated in my whole life. I'd rather shoot 85 than shoot 65 cheating."

Garcia birdied the hole but admitted he took a while to calm down after the incident.

"I felt a little bit of adrenaline going through my body. I finally relaxed towards the fourth or fifth hole," he added.

Woods finally produced the sort of form that had eluded him all week and was happy with his putting.

"I had eight lip-outs yesterday. I was tired of it. Good putts weren't going in. I was really frustrated," he said.

"I was just tired of hitting good putts and having them all lip out, because I didn't feel like I was playing that poorly.

"Today, I just said 'go with your first instinct and hit it and be aggressive'. I went for a more aggressive approach and I started making putts."