Phil Mickelson has played in the shadow of Tiger Woods for much of his career but got some semblance of revenge by winning their $9 million ($A12m) match play showdown.
Mickelson made a 4-foot birdie putt, on a specially set up 93-yard, par 3 on the fourth play-off hole, to beat Woods in their made-for-TV contest which lacked quality and generally failed to live up to the hype.
"A day like today is not going to take anything away from his greatness. He's the greatest of all time," Mickelson said after 'The Match' at Shadow Creek Golf Club finished in the dark with lights set up around the deciding hole.
"But to be able to have just a little bit of smack talk for the coming years means a lot to me because I don't really have much on him.
"He always drops the big picture and it's the trump card."
Only 700 invited guests were in attendance to watch the event billed as golf's first pay-per-view broadcast - which was marred by technical difficulties with viewers unable to view it on their televisions as broadcasters eventually sent out links on social media allowing people to view it for free on their computers and mobile devices.
While the event lacked any real tension - with both golfers in jovial mood, playing for a purse that was put up by sponsors and will go to a charity of Mickelson's choice - Woods set up a dramatic finish when his bump-and-run from beside the 17th green, with the match on the line, found the cup and brought the match to all square.
"You've been doing that crap to me for 20 years, I don't know why I'm surprised now," Mickelson told Woods.
Woods said he enjoyed the match, even if he was on the losing end.
"You couldn't have made this event any better than it was," he said.
"It was back and forth and very competitive on a golf course that was playing on the tricky side."
Five-time major winner Mickelson also recovered from losing a $200,000 ($A275,000) side bet on the opening hole by winning three nearest-the-pin contests for a total of $600,000 ($A825,000), with that money reportedly coming from the players themselves and being donated to charity.
Both made birdies on the par-5 to send the match to extra holes.
The players returned to the 18th for the first play-off hole and Woods missed from seven feet for a winning birdie.
Mickelson missed from 20 feet to win on the first playing of the makeshift hole and from five feet the second time but made no mistake at the third time of asking to finally seal victory.
