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Sunday, April 2

DULUTH, Ga. -- Phil Mickelson doesn't mind playing the role of villain, just as long he keeps winning.

	Phil Mickelson need just one 9-iron and one putt to win on Sunday.

Seven weeks after stopping Tiger Woods' winning streak, Mickelson won the rain-shortened BellSouth Classic Sunday with a birdie at the first playoff hole to deny Gary Nicklaus a chance to be known for more than just his last name.

Because of heavy rain that turned bunkers into beaches on the TPC at Sugarloaf, the final round was canceled. Mickelson and Nicklaus, tied at 11-under 205 after 54 holes, went to the par-3 16th for the sudden-death playoff, and it didn't last long.

"It would have been nice for him to break through," Mickelson said. "But I didn't want it to be at my expense."

Mickelson, hitting first, put his 9-iron from 163 yards about 18 feet left of the hole.

Nicklaus selected an 8-iron, but caught it just a little heavy. The ball was headed right for the flag until it came up short in the bunker, about 4 inches away from a lip that was 10 inches high, giving him virtually no shot.

He opened the blade, but the ball caught the top of the lip and spun back into the sand, and he blasted his next shot out to 8 feet.

Mickelson made his putt to remain undefeated in three career playoffs.

"Quick and easy," Nicklaus said.

Mickelson won for the second time this year, the fifth time he has won at least twice in one season. He and Woods are the only players with multiple victories this year.

"In a playoff, you don't have a chance to recover from an unfortunate break," Mickelson said. "The lie Gary had made it very difficult for him."

It was not a total loss for Nicklaus, the 31-year-old son of Jack Nicklaus who spent eight years traveling the globe trying to hone his game away from the shadow of the Golden Bear. He finally got his PGA Tour card this year, and the $302,400 he earned Sunday virtually assures he'll keep it for next season.

"That's a big weight off my shoulders," he said. "I can free-wheel the rest of the year and worry about a place to play next year. This lets me know there are good things coming down the road."

Mickelson earned $504,000 for his 15th career victory, which had all the trappings of a major championship -- he beat a Nicklaus on a Georgia golf course in April. The only thing missing was the green jacket, but Mickelson will take a load of confidence into The Masters.

Kenny Perry and Harrison Frazar tied for third, two strokes out of the lead. They were among 19 players within five shots of the leaders who never got a chance to make up ground on the final day.

The tour decided not to wait another day to squeeze in 18 holes because the forecast was just as bad for Monday and Tuesday, the same policy it cited when the late Payne Stewart won the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1999 after 54 holes.

It was the first time a "final round" featured only one hole since the 1997 Mercedes Championship. Tom Lehman hit first into the water at the par-3, while Woods hit his tee shot to inside a foot.

This was over just as quickly.

Mickelson played first based on a draw, and hit a high, soft draw safely to the green. Nicklaus peered under the brim of his hat with the intense blue eyes of his father, but knew when he hit the ball he had missed it by one-eighth of an inch, if that much.

"Three feet farther and it's right next to the hole," he said.

Hundreds of fans surrounding the 16th green cheered him, but as Nicklaus got closer to the bunker, he knew he was doomed.

"I didn't think it was that bad," he said. "Once I got in the bunker, it was a lot worse."

Mickelson, meanwhile, stayed focused on making his putt. Just five weeks ago in the Match Play Championship, Mickelson had a 12-foot eagle putt at the second extra hole while Billy Mayfair was in a bunker.

Mayfair holed his shot and advanced when Mickelson missed his putt.

"I didn't want to put myself in that position again," Mickelson said.

As Mickelson mugged for the cameras with his 9-month-old daughter, Nicklaus stared solemnly at the soggy grass of Sugarloaf but managed a smile.

"The worst thing that could have happened was second place," he said.

Maybe the best is yet to come.