FARMINGDALE (New York), June 17: Tiger Woods fired a closing 72 to clinch victory by three shots in the 102nd US Open on Sunday, becoming the first player since Jack Nicklaus, in 1972, to win the first two majors of the year.

The US Masters champion, who began the day four strokes clear of the field, bounced back from a faltering start and could afford to bogey the last as he finished at three-under-par 277.

The 26-year-old American recovered from three-putt bogeys at his first two holes with birdies at the seventh and 13th to hold off the last-day of Phil Mickelson and secure the eighth major title of his career.

Woods, who became the first player to win the U.S. Open wire-to-wire on two occasions, has now won seven majors in his last 11 starts.

He also remains on course to become the first professional to complete the grand slam of all four majors in a calendar year.

Woods joins Craig Wood, in 1941, Ben Hogan, in 1951 and 1953, Arnold Palmer, in 1960, and Jack Nicklaus, in 1972, as the only players who have triumphed in the first two major championships of the year.

The left-handed Mickelson, playing the final round at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course on his 32nd birthday, finished second on 280 after carding a level-par 70.

Fellow American Jeff Maggert shot a 72 for third place at 282 while Spaniard Sergio Garcia, who played with Woods in the day’s final group, was a further stroke back in fourth after fading to a 74.

Woods, who won his first US crown by a record margin of 15 shots at Pebble Beach in 2000, had to wait through a 50-minute suspension in play due to lightning just before he was to putt out for par at the 435-yard 11th.

He had pushed his tee shot right into the first cut of rough but did well to find the green with his second. He then faced a two-foot putt for his par when play was suspended at 2200 GMT as torrential rain swept the course.

Final round scores:

277 Tiger Woods 67 68 70 72

280 Phil Mickelson 70 73 67 70

282 Jeff Maggert 69 73 68 72

283 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 68 74 67 74

285 Nick Faldo (Britain) 70 76 66 73, Scott Hoch 71 75 70 69, Billy Mayfair 69 74 68 74

286 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 70 68 73 75, Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 72 75 69 70, Tom Byrum 72 72 70 72

287 Peter Lonard (Australia) 73 74 73 67, Justin Leonard 73 71 68 75

288 Robert Allenby (Australia) 74 70 67 77, Jay Haas 73 73 70 72, Dudley Hart 69 76 70 73

289 Steve Stricker 72 77 69 71, Shigeki Maruyama (Japan) 76 67 73 73

290 Steve Flesch 72 72 75 71, Thomas Levet (France) 71 77 70 72, Luke Donald (Britain) 76 72 70 72, Craig Stadler 74 72 70 74, Charles Howell III 71 74 70 75, Mark O’Meara 76 70 69 75

291 Darren Clarke (Britain) 74 74 72 71, Chris DiMarco 74 74 72 71, Jim Carter 77 73 70 71, Jeff Sluman 73 73 72 73, Ernie Els (South Africa) 73 74 70 74, Davis Love III 71 71 72 77

292 Paul Lawrie (Britain) 73 73 73 73, Jason Caron 75 72 72 73, Vijay Singh (Fiji) 75 75 67 75, K.J. Choi (Korea) 69 73 73 77, Scott McCarron 72 72 70 78.—Reuters