Faltering finish costs Mickelson dear at Firestone

AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) - Phil Mickelson bemoaned his stumbling finish after failing in his bid to win a maiden World Golf Championship title at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday.

The American world number two, the highest-ranked player in the field, briefly held the outright lead on the back nine at Firestone Country Club before bogeying three of the last four holes.

"It wasn't a good finish for me, but I played really well today," Mickelson told reporters after dropping back into a tie for fourth place, two strokes behind winner Vijay Singh.

"For 14 holes I hit a lot of good shots, a lot of good putts. But I'm turning 63s and 64s into 70s and that's kind of what happened today. I couldn't get any putts to go in and then in the end I made some bogeys."

Mickelson, a three-times major winner who had been seeking his 35th PGA Tour title, was joint pacesetter with Fijian Singh and Britain's Lee Westwood going into the final round.

Although fast-starting Singh held an early advantage after making four birdies in the first six holes, Mickelson and Westwood clawed their way back to regain a share of the lead with three holes remaining.

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However, Mickelson's victory bid ended when he bogeyed the 17th, after driving into a fairway bunker, and also the last, after missing the fairway off the tee and hitting his second shot into a greenside bunker.

"I thought I had to birdie 17 or 18," the 38-year-old Californian said after closing with a level-par 70. "I had to birdie one of the last two, I figured.

"The last three (holes) were playing, I don't want to say easy, but they were birdiable and I thought I needed to get to 11 (under) most likely."

Although bitterly disappointed with his finish in the third and final WGC event of the year, Mickelson preferred to dwell on the positives.

"I really played well this week and I played great today," he said. "Again, I felt like I should have shot 63 or 64. I had countless birdie opportunities from six to 15 feet and then I make three bogeys on the last four holes.

"So I feel like I'm playing well, I just need to get that final piece of scoring down. I thought my short game was really good and I putted very well today, but just couldn't get them to go in."

(Editing by John O'Brien)