SPRINGFIELD, N.J. – Phil Mickelson delivered another dramatic finish in a major yesterday, flopping a chip out of deep rough to two feet for a birdie on the final hole and a one-shot victory in the PGA Championship.

The putt wasn’t nearly as long as his 18-footer to win the Masters last year, and there was no need to jump for joy this time. Still, it was a sweet conclusion to a major championship season that had gone sour until he put together his best golf of the summer stretched over five days at Baltusrol by a storm-delayed final round.

It was the first Monday finish at the PGA Championship in 19 years. And not since 1986 at Inverness had a player from the last group won with a birdie on the 72nd hole at the final major.

Steve Elkington, then Thomas Bjorn, came to the 554-yard closing hole with a chance to make birdie. Elkington grazed the left edge of the cup from 10 feet. Bjorn pulled his second shot into the left bunker and blasted to 20 feet, his putt looking good all the way until it caught the inside edge of the cup and spun out.

Mickelson was 247 yards away, some 10 yards behind the plaque in the fairway that commemorated the 1-iron Jack Nicklaus hit to the green in 1967 to win the U.S. Open. He tapped it twice with his 4-wood for luck, but the shot came up short in grass that covered the tops of his shoes.

The flop came out perfect, and Mickelson raised his arms and lightly pumped his fist twice. The final putt was merely a tap-in, giving Lefty another year with a major trophy.

“It was a shot that I struggled with out of the rough this week,” Mickelson said. “I tried to remember some of the shots I hit as a kid in my back yard. I hit it aggressively, and the ball popped up nicely, and it rolled smoothly.”

Mickelson closed with a 2-over 72, playing the final four holes yesterday morning at even par. He joined Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, and Curtis Strange as the only players in the last 20 years to win majors in consecutive years.

Elkington shot 71 and Bjorn had a 72, both leaving Baltusrol haunted by missed chances. His par to finish at 3-under 277 meant Woods was free to leave.

He wound up tied with Davis Love for fourth, two shots behind. Woods has to settle for a Masters and British Open this year, missing out on the calendar Grand Slam by a combined four strokes.

Singh had an outside chance to become only the second repeat PGA champion in the stroke-play era, but he missed a 10-foot par putt on the 16th when play resumed, bogeyed the 18th, and wound up with a 74.