Phil Mickelson birdies the last to win his first ever major title in thrilling fashion at Augusta.

The popular American carded a final round of three-under-par 69 to pip Ernie Els, who shot a five-under-par 67, by one shot.

Mickelson had trailed Els by as many as three shots on Sunday but showed great nerve down the stretch.

KJ Choi claimed third after an eventful final round, while Sergio Garcia and Bernhard Langer tied for fifth.

2305: Mickelson holes it to win his first ever major.

2301: Mickelson fires his approach right at the pin and carries the ball 20ft past to set up a putt for victory. His playing partner DiMarco finds the bunker and leaves his first attempt in the sand. He gets out at his second attempt and putts first. He misses but Mickelson will have had a chance to watch his line.

2258: Casey finishes with a par for a round of 74 and two-under-par total. Langer follows suits for a 72 that leaves him at three under.

2254: Mickelson finds the middle of the fairway with his drive at 18.

2249: Langer and Casey bogey the 17th to slide back to three under and two under respectively. Mickelson pars the 17th to remain tied with Els.

2246: Els misses his birdie putt at the last and taps in for a 67. Choi does the same for a 69. Els finishes at eight under par, Choi at six under.

2242: Els finds the middle of the green with his bunker shot.

2240: Mickelson splits the fairway with his drive at 17.

2236: Els puts his drive at 18 into the fairway bunker, while Mickelson birdies the 16th to tie the lead at eight under.

2232: Langer birdies the 16th to join DiMarco on four under.

2231: Casey misses another makeable birdie putt at 16 and stays in a tie for fifth. Choi does the same at 17 and stays third.

2228: A wayward drive costs Mickelson the chance of a birdie at the par-five 15th and he remains a shot behind Els.

2225: Langer's challenge ends with a double-bogey at 15, and Casey sees another birdie putt just miss.

2218: Choi birdies 15 to go to six under. Els is faced with a 10ft putt for par at 16. Langer, meanwhile, puts his third into the creek at the 15th.

2215: Singh, Love and Couples are all back in the clubhouse with two-under-par totals.

2214: Mickelson sets up a third straight birdie with a remarkable approach to the 14th. Els is a shot clear but faces a tricky putt at the 16th.

2205: The roars around Augusta get louder and louder as Kirk Triplett matches Harrington's trick at the 16th with a second hole-in-one in little over 10 minutes.

2202: Mickelson misses his eagle putt and will have to settle for birdie. DiMarco also birdies to join Langer on four under.

2157: Choi's charge continues with a birdie at 14. He is now just two off the lead. Mickelson, however, has an eagle putt on 13.

2155: Casey and Langer both miss birdie chances at the 13th.

2153: Harrington fires a hole-in-one at the 16th - the second ace of the tournament - to return to even par. Els, meanwhile, completes another masterful up-and-down at the 14th for par.

2145: Mickelson hits back immediately with a great birdie at the short 12th. Choi, meanwhile, chips in for another unlikely birdie.

2140: Els sinks his second eagle to claim a three-shot lead with five to play.

2137: Els plays another magnificent approach to a par-five and now has a wonderful chance for eagle. Casey bogeys 12 to fall back to two under, Love does the same at 16.

2130: Love and Couples birdie the 13th, 14th and 15th holes to join the group on three under.

2124: Els shaves the hole with his putt and stays at five under.

2122: Mickelson saves his par on 10, but Els has a birdie putt at 12.

2116: Els makes a great escape for par at 11, and now moves onto the dreaded 12th with his one-stroke lead intact.

2110: Choi holes from the fairway at 11 to go to three under, two shots off the lead. Garcia, meanwhile, is an inch short of another birdie at the 18th. He must settle for a three-under-par total.

2105: Woods birdies the last - his sixth of the day - for a 71. He finishes at two over par.

2101: Rose cards a 71 to repair some of the damage inflicted on Saturday. Back at the turn, Els narrowly misses his birdie putt but stays at five under.

2057: Casey bogeys the ninth to head to the turn at three under. Garcia, meanwhile, finds another birdie at 17 to join Casey at two shots off the lead.

2050: Garcia follows eagle at 15 with a birdie at 16 and is now just three off the lead.

2046: Sergio Garcia is four under through 15 and now just four shots off the lead.

2040: Casey and Langer pick up birdies at eight to join Mickelson on four under, one behind Els.

2033: Els holes his eagle to take a one-shot lead from Mickelson. Langer and Casey, both playing the par-five eighth, are a shot further back.

2028: DiMarco's trials continue as he drops his fourth shot in seven holes to slip back to two under.

2025: Els sets up an eagle chance at the eighth with a stunning approach.

2017: Mickelson and DiMarco bogey the tricky sixth. Mickelson and Langer are now tied at four under, with Els, DiMarco and Casey one shot back.

2011: Singh, the first of the contenders to reach the back nine, suffers the same fate as Mickelson at five when he takes two attempts to get out of a bunker. Els, meanwhile, birdies seven to return to three under.

2007: Casey bogeys six when his par putt stops one roll short. He is now in a three-way tie for fourth.

2004: Mickelson makes his bogey putt to fall back into a tie for first with DiMarco at five under.

2001: Mickelson's famous short-game lets him down at the fifth when he leaves his first bunker shot in the sand.

1956: Singh birdies the ninth to complete an outward 32. He is now just three shots off the lead.

1950: DiMarco bogeys the short fourth to slip one shot behind Mickelson.

1945: Els bogeys five and is now at two under, four off the lead.

1943: Langer makes his first mistake of the round, bogeying the fourth to go back to four under alongside partner Casey. Woods, meanwhile, puts his tee shot at the short 12th into the water.

1939: DiMarco misses his first clutch putt of the round to slip back to six under. Mickelson then sees his par putt lip out from three feet and he goes back to six under. Five holes ahead, Singh birdies eight to move within four of the lead.

1933: Neither DiMarco, who hasn't found a fairway yet, nor Mickelson hit the third in regulation. DiMarco is short of the green, while Mickelson is through the back.

1930: Casey starts with three pars, while Langer cards his first par after two birdies.

1925: Mickelson putts in from the fringe for birdie at the second to go to seven under. DiMarco promptly follows suit to join his partner at seven under. His claw-like putting stroke might be unusual but it is very effective.

1919: After a delightful chip, Langer taps in for his second straight birdie to go to five under after two holes. Casey has to settle for par. A hole ahead, Els is making a mess of the short par-four third and will do well to escape with par.

1914: DiMarco saves his par with a tremendous up-and-down, while Mickelson just misses with an 18ft birdie putt. Harrington bogeys the fourth to go back to one over.

1910: Els birdies two to join Langer and Casey on four under, two off the lead.

1907: The winner has come out of the final pairing at the last 13 Masters. Mickelson has made the better start, reaching the green in regulation while DiMarco has gone from bunker to bunker.

1902: Chris DiMarco puts his drive at the first into the bunker on the right side of the fairway. Phil Mickelson smashes his drive down the left side of the fairway and gets a nice break when the ball bounces off the base of a tree. His stance shouldn't be affected as he is left-handed. Up ahead, Fredrik Jacobson bogeys the second, while Langer chips in for birdie at the first.

1852: Choi and Els open with steady pars, while Couples birdies four to go to one under.

1845: Chris Riley, 16 over, and Jeff Sluman, 14 over, are the first men to complete 72 holes after playing their final rounds in just three hours.

1842: Ernie Els and KJ Choi, the third from last group to play, are underway. Four holes ahead Singh cards his second birdie to go to one over.

1839: Woods birdies his second straight hole, the seventh, and is now two over for the tournament. Rose tastes some success for the first time in a while when he eagles eight to join Woods on two over.

1830: Davis Love becomes the first of Sunday's early starters to move into red numbers for the tournament. The American is now five shots off the lead with 16 to play. There are nine players under par for the tournament.

1828: Woods birdies six to return to par for the day, but we still don't have anybody under par for the tournament on the course.

1816: Retief Goosen is the third player to eagle the second and moves to even par. Singh birdies the second and is also at level par.

1811: Freddie Couples, the first of the players at even par for the tournament to start, pars the first. Elsewhere there are reports that Woods is feeling unwell and has already been forced to leave the fairway to be sick. He is currently one over for his round after five holes.

1808: Alex Cejka, who finished with a triple bogey on Saturday, birdies the second to go to one over alongside Vijay Singh who opens with a par.

1803: With less than an hour to go before the leaders tee off the conditions remain warm but overcast. There is little wind but the forecast is still predicting a storm later.

1754: Woods promptly gives the shot back at the next hole for a bogey-birdie-bogey start.

1741: Woods picks up a birdie at the par-five second and returns to three over. Rose drops a shot at three to slip to four over.

1729: USPGA champion Shaun Micheel matches Appleby's eagle at the second to go to two over for the tournament.

1723: Woods starts his fourth round with a bogey - he is now 10 shots off the lead - while 36-hole leader Justin Rose opens with a par.

1716: Stuart Appleby, one of the two Australians that made the cut from the seven that started, eagles the second to move into the top 16 at two over.

1713: Phillip Price, who famously beat Phil Mickelson in the singles at the 2002 Ryder Cup, birdies the third to move to one under for the round and three over for the tournament.

1710: Tiger Woods and Jose Maria Olazabal, who have five Masters titles between them, hit their drives at the first. Half of the 44-strong field are now on the course - and still none of them is under par.

1657: There are 16 players on the course right now and none of them is under par for the round. Low scores will be few and far between today.

1644: Wales' Philip Price begins his round with a par at the first.

1633: American Scott Verplank and Argentine Eduardo Romero pick up shots at the second and first holes.

1626: There are ten players out on the Augusta National and none of them are under par for their round, indicating that scoring will be tough on the final day.

1614: England's Ian Poulter, who starts his final round at six over, pars the first hole.

1610: Jeff Sluman pars holes two, three and four to remain on 10 over par.

1540: First pairing Chris Riley and Jeff Sluman complete their first hole of the day, Sluman making par and Riley dropping a shot.