World No.2 Phil Mickelson has cashed in on the absence of Tiger Woods to claim the Northern Trust Open by two shots. Mickelson carded a one-under-par 71 to finish the tournament on 12-under ahead of Jeff Quinney on 10-under, and Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald, who were equal third on seven-under. A three-under-par 68 lifted Robert Allenby from his overnight position of 23rd to finish tied seventh, equal with compatriot Stuart Appleby, who slipped from fourth after a final round of 71. Adam Scott was the next best Australian, shooting a two-under-par 69 to finish in a tie for 14th. For Mickelson, it was a tournament the left-hander had long coveted, having lost in a playoff after bogeying the 18th 12 months ago, while at the FBR Open two weeks ago, he had a one-stroke lead but JB Holmes birdied the final hole to force a playoff which he won on the first extra hole. This time, Mickelson minimised his mistakes and took a three-shot lead to the final hole. “It is pretty cool,” Mickelson said. “I&aposve wanted to win here for a long time. It was a tough fight with Jeff. He played really well.” “I had some solid shots on the back nine and Jeff had a couple of three-putts to give me the lead. I was able to not make any mistakes and hang on to win.” “I felt I had the tournament won last year and I bogeyed 18. I didn&apost want to get ahead of myself. I wanted to try to play each shot smart coming down the stretch and not get too emotional.” Final scores from the Northern Trust Open, California -12 Phil Mickelson 68 64 70 70 -10 Jeff Quinney 69 67 67 71 -7 Padraig Harrington 69 69 71 68, Luke Donald 68 71 70 68 -6 Ryuji Imada 71 69 60 68, Scott Verplank 68 69 71 70 -5 Robert Allenby (Australia) 70 66 75 68, K.J. Choi 65 73 71 70, Stuart Appleby 69 70 69 71, J.B. Holmes 74 66 69 70 Also: -2 Peter Lonard 69 70 74 69, Nathan Green 72 70 70 70 +6 Mathew Goggin 73 71 72 74