SPRINGFIELD, N.J. - Phil Mickelson jumped for joy when he won the Masters, shedding the label that for so long seemed part of his name: Best player never to win a major.

On Monday, Mickelson merely raised his arms as his chip shot out of the rough on the final hole of the PGA Championship rolled within 3 feet for the birdie putt that gave him major No. 2.

"I think that at 35, I've got a number of years left, good years left where my game can continue to improve," Mickelson said after his one-stroke victory over Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn.

"I look at some great players from the past that didn't start winning big tournaments until their mid-30s, and I want to try to get better and better as my career goes on as opposed to thinking that I've hit some milestone by making it from zero to one major or one major to two majors."

The crowd favorite throughout the week on the Lower Course at the Baltusrol Golf Club, Mickelson didn't disappoint those who returned for the hour-long Monday morning finish.

The threat of severe weather in the area forced tournament officials to suspend play late Sunday afternoon. Mickelson was facing a 3-foot par putt when the sirens sounded. He made it when play resumed to keep his one-shot lead, but Elkington and Bjorn tied him for the lead at 3-under when Mickelson bogeyed the par-3 16th.

Both Elkington - a 10-foot putt - and Bjorn - a 20-footer - had chances to birdie the 554-yard, par-5 18th, but neither converted.

That gave Mickelson the chance to birdie the same hole Jack Nicklaus did in 1967 for the first of his two U.S. Open wins at Baltusrol. Mickelson was about 10 yards behind the plaque in the fairway that commemorates Nicklaus' 1-iron shot 38 years ago.

Mickelson tapped the plaque with his 3-wood twice before hitting the shot from 247 yards.

"I just wanted some good karma, some positive thoughts," Mickelson said.

His second shot landed in the deep rough along the right front of the green. The man considered a short-game wizard was going to get a chance to use it for a major win.

"I saw where he hit it on the last, and if there was anybody you'd back to get up and down from there in the world, it would be Phil Mickelson," said Bjorn, who was watching on television with Elkington to see if there would be a playoff. "I didn't think there was much hope whenever I saw where he was."

Mickelson hit it where Bjorn and everyone else thought he would.

"It was a chip shot that I had hit tens of thousands of times in my backyard," he said. "But it was one I had to strike confidently and aggressive to get the club through the rough.

"I hit it very confidently and aggressively and the ball popped out perfectly. There's still an element of guesswork, but when it hit the green, it took a bounce and rolled up to within a 3-foot circle which I felt very confident in."

He walked out the rough with his arms raised. When he made the putt, there was no jumping as he did at Augusta a year ago. Mickelson was hugging his three children within seconds.

"I just want to savor this victory. It was hard-fought," Mickelson said. "I think it was one of the most stressful tournaments for me because I was on the lead or tied for the lead every night. There was an extra night thrown in there for good measure."