Mahan shot a 6-under 64 on Sunday and made several huge swings down the stretch to hold off Ryan Palmer by two strokes for his third career win and a spot on the US Ryder Cup team.

"I was nervous," said Mahan, a 28-year-old player who took the lead for good with his second straight birdie at the ninth hole. "I wanted it so bad and I was playing so good. I just didn't want to make any bogeys. I didn't want to give them any momentum out there."

From there he played carefully but not conservatively, putting up eight pars and a birdie at the 13th hole.

At the par-5 16th, the signature "Monster" hole at Firestone Country Club, he hit a 5-wood second shot instead of laying up short of the large lake which fronts the green. He didn't think it was much of a gamble.

"The thing was, there was no out of bounds anywhere — that we could see," he said with a laugh. "The only place you couldn't hit it was short, obviously. There's just not a bad spot to be except exactly where I hit it."

Mahan's shot slid right of the green near a flower bed, and was stopped by a bush. He received a free drop, chipped onto the green, lagged a 60-foot putt to 2 feet and then tapped in for par. Two more pars left him at 12-under 268 and capped a huge comeback from a seven-shot deficit after the opening round. He played the final 27 holes in 10 under, without a bogey.

"To win is ... the best feeling in the world," he said. "To do it when you have to, when you're kind of behind and you need to do something special and do it when you need it, to make putts like I needed to, it feels great."

Despite Mahan's flawless play on Sunday, the tournament might be remembered for the failures of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

Woods, a seven-time winner of the Bridgestone, had the worst tournament of his pro career, closing out a dreadful week with a 77 that left him at 298 and tied for next-to-last in the 80-player field. Struggling all week with every aspect of his game, he ended up 18 over, with 25 bogeys or worse, and finished 30 strokes behind Mahan — all career worsts.

With Woods struggling, Mickelson could have moved up a spot to become No. 1 in the world rankings. Instead, he also had an abysmal round, shooting a 78.

"You're only as good as your last performance," Mickelson said after falling from a tie for 10th place all the way to a tie for 46th. "This wasn't very good."

Meanwhile, others did well on a long course which should provide a good snapshot of what it'll be like next week at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

Palmer, tied with Sean O'Hair for the lead at the start of the final round, played the front side in 1 over. He birdied the next two holes and then parred out — never able to quite catch up with Mahan.

Retief Goosen (65) and Bo Van Pelt (67) shared third at 271. O'Hair's closing 71 left him at 272. Jim Furyk, whose third shot to the green at the 16th hit the pin and ricocheted back into the water, had a 64 and shared sixth with Jeff Overton (69).
 

Meantime, little-known American Bill Lunde overhauled pace-setting German Alex Cejka to win his maiden PGA Tour title by one shot at the Turning Stone Resort Championship in Verona, New York, on Sunday.

Four strokes behind Cejka going into the final round, Lunde charged ahead with a sizzling front nine of six-under-par 30 on the way to a six-under 66 at Atunyote Golf Club.

A rookie on the PGA Tour last year, Lunde offset a bogey at the 11th with a birdie at the 16th to post a 17-under total of 271, and book his place in next week's PGA Championship.

"Shooting 30 on the front side was obviously big momentum and got my confidence going," the 34-year-old told reporters after celebrating his breakthrough on the US circuit. "I tried not to get too conservative.

"I tried to keep playing, tried to make birdies where I had a chance and tried to stay in the moment. And I was able to pull it off today. It feels great." Fellow American JJ Henry, helped by an eagle at the par-five 12th, fired a sparkling 63 to secure second place while Cejka had to settle for a five-way tie for third at 15-under after closing with a 72.

"On this golf course, you miss three shots in two holes it's really difficult to bounce back," Cejka said after surrendering the lead by stumbling to the turn in two-over 38.

The Czech Republic-born German caught Lunde with three consecutive birdies from the 10th, but his title bid was all but over when he slipped again with a bogey at the 14th.

"Bill played really well today so I knew to win I needed to shoot two or three-under at least," said Cejka, who was also bidding for his first PGA Tour victory. "I gave it the best I could, and I gotta wait for another week."