Fans caused a bottleneck at the entrance to the HSBC Champions, all of them eager to see the Sunday showdown at Sheshan International between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.

The Shanghai surprise? Woods turned out to be merely a spectator, too.

Mickelson built a six-shot lead over the world's No. 1 player on the front nine, then rallied to beat Ernie Els with two clutch putts for a one-shot victory in the final World Golf Championship event of the year.

Mickelson closed with a 3-under 69 and won for the first time playing with Woods in the final group.

Even with Woods out of the picture — he shot 72 and wound up five shots behind — Mickelson provided his usual dose of entertainment.

Trailing by a shot, Mickelson whiffed on a risky flop shot below the 16th green, only to save a par 4 with an 18-foot slider that dropped on its final turn. He followed that with a 10-foot birdie on 17, which turned out to be the difference when Els hit into the water on the par-5 18th and made bogey.

"We all expected that Tiger and myself would be shooting in the mid-60s and pull away a little bit," Mickelson said. "And yet, our group was not making any birdies. ... I was very fortunate to come out on top by a shot."

Woods looked out of sorts from the start, including a double bogey on the par-3 fourth when he hit into a canal left of the green where residents on the other side dump their garbage.

"Anything that

It ended with a wedge too strong that went down the bank and into the water on the 18th, then having to wait for Mickelson to make a tap-in par for the win.

Mickelson finished at 17-under 271 and earned $1.2 million for his fourth victory of the year. He became the fourth player to win multiple WGC events and joined Woods as the only players to win two in one year. Mickelson also won the CA Championship at Doral.

Els was on the verge of his first victory in nearly 20 months, leading by one with his tee shot smashed down the middle of the 18th fairway. He was 218 yards away, his ball on a downslope. Els opted to hit a high cut with a 5-wood and "basically duffed it." It landed in the middle of the pond. Instead of a victory, Els had to settle for a share of the course record with a 9-under 63.