SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Phil Mickelson completed a wire-to-wire victory in the Phoenix Open, again flirting with history in a dominating four-day run at TPC Scottsdale. Mickelson shot a 4-under 67 on Sunday to finish at 28-under 256, two strokes off the PGA Tour record of 254 set by Tommy Armour III in the 2003 Texas Open.

Mickelson missed a chance for a 59 in the first round when his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole caught the right edge of the cup, curled 180 degrees and stayed out. He settled for a 60 and followed with rounds of 65 and 64 to take a six-stroke lead into the final round.

Brandt Snedeker finished second, four strokes back after a 65.

Mickelson took a three-stroke lead to the 17th tee, and nearly drove into the left-side water on the drivable par 4, his ball stopping a yard short of the hazard. He hit his 25-yard second shot 15 feet past the hole and made the birdie putt.

Snedeker matched him with a little shorter putt to remain three shots behind.

Mickelson parred the par-4 18th after another drive to the left, one that easily cleared the water he hit into Friday en route to a double bogey.

He pushed his victory total to 41, winning for the first time since 51 weeks ago at Pebble Beach.

Making his 24th appearance in the event that he also won in 1996 and 2005, Mickelson tied the tournament scoring record set by Mark Calcavecchia in 2001, and joined Calcavecchia, Arnold Palmer and Gene Littler as the only three-time winners. With six victories in Arizona, Mickelson also matched Johnny Miller’s tour record.

Mickelson won after struggling the last two weeks in his season-opening events — tying for 37th at La Quinta and 51st at Torrey Pines — and causing a sensation by talking about tax increases. He now heads to Pebble Beach for his title defense.

After three nearly cloudless days in the Valley of the Sun, the final round was played in overcast conditions. Light rain even fell for a few minutes as Mickelson finished warming up on the practice green and played the first hole.

After the rain stopped, Mickelson bogeyed the par-4 second hole and birdied the two front-nine par 3s, pulling off his best shot of the day on No. 7.

After Snedeker, four strokes back after a birdie on No. 6, hit within 10 feet of the back-left pin to set up a birdie, Mickelson’s tee shot leaked right and rolled to a stop an inch from the back fringe, leaving him 55 feet with a 20-foot swath of fringe between his ball and the hole.

Mickelson decided to putt through the fringe rather than chip over it and had caddie Jim Mackay remove the flagstick. The 42-year-old former Arizona State star hit it perfectly, with the ball avoiding the rough, rolling back onto the green and racing into the cup.

Mickelson pushed the advantage back to four strokes with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 13th, his fourth straight birdie on the hole. Snedeker saved par on the hole after his drive stopped under jumping cholla, forcing him to take a drop for an unplayable lie.

Mickelson matched Snedeker on the next two holes, saving par on the par-4 14th with a 10-foot putt and two-putting for birdie on the par-5 15th.

Snedeker pulled within three again on the par-3 16th, hitting to 5 feet on the stadium hole. Mickelson’s 15-footer slid by the right edge.

Snedeker had his second second-place finish of the week. He tied for second Monday at Torrey Pines, four strokes behind Tiger Woods in the fog-delayed event.

Scott Piercy shot a 61 to finish third at 23 under. Ryan Moore was fourth at 22 under after a 65, and Ryan Palmer closed with a 62 to finish fifth at 19 under.

DIVOTS: The crowd Sunday was estimated at 58,791 for a weekly total of 525,821, short of the record of 538,356 set in 2008 — a year when the Super Bowl was in Arizona and the tournament finished on a Saturday. ... Mickelson also led wire-to-wire in 2005 at Pebble Beach. He’s ninth on the career victory list, four behind No. 8 Walter Hagen. ... Bubba Watson had a 64 to finish 15th at 15 under.

PHOENIX OPEN SCORES

Sunday

Final Round

Phil Mickelson (500), $1,116,000 60-65-64-67—256

Brandt Snedeker (300), $669,600 64-66-65-65—260

Scott Piercy (190), $421,600 70-66-64-61—261

Ryan Moore (135), $297,600 66-66-65-65—262

Ryan Palmer (110), $248,000 64-73-66-62—265

Bill Haas (92), $207,700 65-64-70-67—266

Brendon de Jonge (92), $207,700 66-67-67-66—266

Brendan Steele (92), $207,700 69-65-65-67—266

Matt Every (78), $173,600 65-67-69-66—267

Padraig Harrington (78), $173,600 64-70-63-70—267

Kevin Stadler (63), $136,400 68-68-69-63—268

Ben Crane (63), $136,400 67-71-64-66—268

Robert Garrigus (63), $136,400 66-66-69-67—268

Billy Horschel (63), $136,400 69-68-64-67—268

Bubba Watson (56), $111,600 67-67-71-64—269

David Hearn (52), $84,165 67-65-73-65—270

Bo Van Pelt (52), $84,165 68-67-71-64—270

Jeff Klauk (52), $84,165 67-68-67-68—270

James Hahn (52), $84,165 71-67-70-62—270

Gary Woodland (52), $84,165 67-66-67-70—270

Roberto Castro (52), $84,165 65-68-67-70—270

Hunter Mahan (52), $84,165 67-67-67-69—270

Troy Matteson (52), $84,165 67-65-66-72—270

Chris Kirk (44), $47,973 67-69-69-66—271

Kevin Chappell (44), $47,973 66-68-71-66—271

Brian Gay (44), $47,973 65-66-72-68—271

Keegan Bradley (44), $47,973 67-63-73-68—271

Bud Cauley (44), $47,973 71-67-68-65—271

John Rollins (44), $47,973 66-66-69-70—271

Bryce Molder (44), $47,973 67-67-67-70—271

Ted Potter, Jr. (44), $47,973 64-69-68-70—271

Brian Harman (38), $35,883 70-65-68-69—272

John Mallinger (38), $35,883 65-69-69-69—272

Justin Leonard (38), $35,883 65-71-66-70—272

William McGirt (38), $35,883 67-66-69-70—272

Kevin Na (32), $27,944 69-64-72-68—273

K.J. Choi (32), $27,944 71-67-67-68—273

Charles Howell III (32), $27,944 67-68-69-69—273

Casey Wittenberg (32), $27,944 67-67-70-69—273

George McNeill (32), $27,944 70-68-68-67—273

Angel Cabrera (32), $27,944 66-65-70-72—273

Greg Chalmers (32), $27,944 68-68-66-71—273

Cameron Tringale (26), $19,881 69-67-69-69—274

Nick Watney (26), $19,881 65-71-68-70—274

Ken Duke (26), $19,881 66-69-71-68—274

Carl Pettersson (26), $19,881 72-65-69-68—274

Colt Knost (26), $19,881 71-65-71-67—274

Hank Kuehne (26), $19,881 65-71-72-66—274

Jeff Maggert (20), $15,302 64-70-71-70—275

Tim Clark (20), $15,302 69-68-68-70—275

Rory Sabbatini (20), $15,302 68-66-70-71—275

Charlie Wi (20), $15,302 68-63-71-73—275

Sang-Moon Bae (20), $15,302 72-64-72-67—275

Lucas Glover (16), $14,260 68-70-67-71—276

David Toms (16), $14,260 69-67-71-69—276

Jimmy Walker (16), $14,260 68-69-72-67—276

Harris English (12), $13,764 67-67-73-70—277

James Driscoll (12), $13,764 72-66-69-70—277

Martin Flores (12), $13,764 65-71-72-69—277

John Merrick (12), $13,764 69-69-70-69—277

Jason Day (12), $13,764 70-68-72-67—277

Chris Stroud (9), $13,392 71-66-69-72—278

Boo Weekley (8), $13,206 69-66-72-72—279

Richard H. Lee (8), $13,206 68-68-72-71—279

Aaron Baddeley (6), $12,958 69-67-73-71—280

Dicky Pride (6), $12,958 67-71-73-69—280

David Mathis (3), $12,648 72-65-70-74—281

Russell Henley (3), $12,648 69-67-74-71—281

J.J. Henry (3), $12,648 70-68-73-70—281

Scott Verplank (1), $12,338 66-72-71-73—282

Jeff Overton (1), $12,338 66-69-75-72—282

Chad Campbell (1), $12,090 73-65-71-74—283

Y.E. Yang (1), $12,090 65-73-74-71—283

Kyle Stanley (1), $11,904 67-71-74-72—284