Mickelson wins Greater Hartford

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) -- Phil Mickelson went from beating himself up over his recent final-round failures to beating everybody else in the Greater Hartford Open.

Booming drives and sticking with his new mental approach, Mickelson shot a 2-under-par 68 on Sunday for a 1-stroke victory over Billy Andrade at the muggy TPC at River Highlands.

"This is a good starting point," said Mickelson, who finished at 16-under 264. On Saturday, he matched the course record with a career-best 61 to take a 1-stroke lead over David Berganio Jr.

Mickelson didn't touch a club last week after a final-round 75 in the U.S. Open, choosing instead to practice using visualization techniques he learned at Arizona State.

"I felt much more comfortable, much more relaxed, and worked from a positive frame of mind," Mickelson said. "Changing my mental approach and my outlook has allowed me to perform at a higher lever -- to perform at my best.

"I feel if I can start to work on that and refine that and get better at it, I should be able to close more on the opportunities that I have been giving myself."

After winning in San Diego in February, the 31-year-old left-hander faded on Sunday in the Masters, New Orleans, the Colonial and the U.S. Open.

"It was certainly nice to win, especially after letting the opportunities slide the way I have," said Mickelson, who has 12 victories in 16 career events with the 54-hole lead.

He earned $558,000 for his 19th tour victory to push his season total to $3,569,724, second behind Tiger Woods. Mickelson also has three runner-up finishes and four thirds this year.

He parred the final three holes after dropping a stroke on the 296-yard 15th, his lone bogey of the weekend. After his drive bounced into the water on the left side of the 15th green, he chipped to about 20 feet and 2-putted.

On the difficult 17th, with water lining the entire right side, he nearly holed his approach shot, but the ball spun off the front of the green. He chipped to a foot to save par.

"I expected it to fly it about 4, 5 yards behind the hole, then come back," Mickelson said. "It wasn't a hard chip, but that took away a good birdie opportunity."

He made a textbook par on the 18th, driving down the middle, hitting a sand wedge approach to about 20 feet and completing his breakthrough victory with a tap-in.

Mickelson, making his first appearance at River Highlands since 1994, birdied Nos. 3, 6 and 7 to reach 17 under.

Betsy King paces

ShopRite LPGA Classic

ABSECON, N.J. (AP) -- Betsy King won the ShopRite LPGA Classic for the third time, shooting a 4-under-par 67 for a two-stroke victory over Lorie Kane.

JoAnne Carner is the oldest player to win an LPGA tournament, taking the Safeco Classic in 1985 at 46 years, 5 months and 9 days. King will be 46 in August.

After starting the final round a stroke behind Kane and co-leader Cristie Kerr, King moved into the lead with an eagle on the 475-yard, par-5 third hole.

King had birdies on Nos. 5, 6 and 11 and finished 54 holes at 12-under 201 for the 34th tour victory of her 24-year LPGA career..

King won the ShopRite in 1995 to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. She also won the event in 1987.

The $180,000 paycheck -- her biggest ever -- boosted her career earning to over $7 million, joining Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb as the only players over that figure.