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It was more than apparent in the vast galleries following that final group of Mickelson, Woods and the splendidly unflappable . While he remained calmness personified, his illustrious compatriots were struggling.

For once, Mickelson left world number one Woods trailing in his wake

Woods seemed to be derailed after missing a short birdie putt at the second that would have brought him to within a short of the world number two's overnight lead.

He tugged his tee shot into the water at the short 4th, three-putted after charging a 20-footer almost half that distance past the 6th hole and was screaming at a mis-timed camera on the 7th tee.

Cameras and phones - indeed the combination of both on most sets - are part and parcel of golf in this part of the world. But as Mickelson acknowledged afterwards the main culprits were from shutter happy professional snappers rather than over enthusiastic fans.

Woods sent that tee-shot at seven into a fairway bunker, fluffed his escape and put his pitch into a greenside trap. It was the golf of a Sunday hacker not the world number one and he was clearly riled.

"Everything that could go wrong went wrong for me today," Woods later observed.

Mickelson made an important birdie on that seventh hole to steady the ship after back-to-back bogeys at the 4th and 5th holes. The significance of that birdies became apparent at the next because that's where the first full leaderboard comes into view and it showed was within a shot of his lead.

The South African, experimenting with a new softer ball he'll be using next year, at last was finding his touch on the greens and went ahead with his eighth birdie of the day at the 17th (he'd also eagled the 8th).

But the water gobbled his duffed five-wood second to the par-five last and the resultant bogey scuppered Els as Mickelson was saving par from long range at the 16th and then nudging ahead with birdie at the 17th.

Then came a tense closing hole where the champion needed to play eight irons twice from the left rough to find the green and two-putt for a one-shot win.

Els remained upbeat afterwards, saying: "This week was a big week, I made a lot of putts. My short game is back and I'm feeling good about my future again."

Also in the mix were superb challenges from (the American doesn't seem to bother with spikes in his trainers by the way) and , who rediscovered his mojo with a 63 that may reignite his tilt at the .

It was compelling stuff wherever you looked and the greatest significance to the game was the overwhelming success of this event. The is looking rather out of step by not acknowledging this result as a tour win and it irritates Mickelson.

"I don't understand why it doesn't," the champion told me. "But it is just as rewarding whether the PGA Tour recognises it or not because I played against fifteen of the top twenty players in the world and was able to come out on top."

It would be no surprise if retrospectively Mickelson is credited with a tour win and it surely will not be long before a formula is arrived upon to give this tournament full credit on the PGA Tour.

Their European counterparts are in a far easier position because this event plays a pivotal role in the Race to Dubai which still has two weeks to run. It's not so simple in America where the season ended with the FedEx Cup.

"That may evolve, as I've said in the past, over the next two or three years," said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem as he offered some hope of change.

Finchem has often defended playing all the WGC events in America saying that television brings them to the rest of the world. Hopefully he will have seen a different side to that argument by noting the enthusiasm of the Chinese crowds.

The Champions event can fill a significant hole in the global golfing calendar because it is so far removed from the majors and the other American based WGC events in Arizona, Doral and Firestone.

"It'll be interesting to see over the next five or six years where this tournament ends up in the calendar," Mickelson observed. "And whether or not it gets full status in the US.

"This was, I thought, a very successful event. Because of that I think it has momentum to continue to move up in status and importance."

This was another example of Mickelson not putting a word out of place because he recognises the importance of the Chinese market. He's been like the new boyfriend meeting the potential in-laws for the first time all week long.

Woods doesn't need to go on such charm offensives because of his global status, but it was clear from the galleries that Mickelson won the popularity contest with the world number one by embarking on marathon signing sessions, permanently smiling and politely acknowledgment support.

That's not Woods' style, preferring the poker-faced approach of narrow focus. It adds to the stunning contrast between the world's top two players that exists at every level from the opposite way they swing onwards.

Mickelson now embarks on a 10-week break, .

Although neither is keen to fuel their rivalry verbally it promises to be stronger than ever next season. Mickelson has won four times in a year blighted by his wife and mother suffering from breast cancer.

He assures us that his other half Amy is making good progress in her recovery and provided he can maintain an uninterrupted schedule in 2010 we may well see his rivalry with Woods hit new heights.

The global game threatens to do likewise if it can build on the enthusiasm for the sport generated in this extraordinary week in China.