updated 10:32 p.m. ET April 12, 2006

AUGUSTA, Ga. - There was no reason to leap, no reason to look utterly stunned.

Phil Mickelson simply smiled as he fished the ball out the cup, waved to the gallery and made his way to the scoring trailer with his three kids draped around his neck.

There was no need for a nail-biting birdie to win this Masters.

Shadows stretched across the 18th fairway late Sunday afternoon at Augusta National as Mickelson casually made his way to a major championship that was never this easy.

“I loved it,” he said. “The stress-free walk up 18 was incredible. I had been wanting that. It was a great feeling walking up there, knowing that I had the tournament in hand.”

Once known as the lovable loser who went a dozen years before he figured out how to win golf’s biggest tournaments, Mickelson captured his second straight major at the Masters. He closed with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Tim Clark and his second green jacket in three years.

FREE VIDEO 'Fun, great day' April 9: Phil Mickelson says this Masters victory more about beating a great field rather than finally winning his first major, as he did in 2004. NBC Sports

This was nothing like the others.

He holed an 18-foot birdie putt that swirled into the cup two years ago at the Masters, keeping everyone in suspense until the final moment and sending Mickelson leaping into the air when it finally plopped in. Then there was Baltusrol last summer at the PGA Championship, when he hit a flop shot out of deep rough to within 2 feet for a birdie to win by one shot.

Instead of a heart-stopping finish this time, he methodically built a lead that forced Fred Couples, Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh to try to catch him. But they stumbled along with three-putts and a litany of other mistakes, the kind Mickelson used to make.

“In ’04 when I won, I felt this great feeling of relief that I could win the tournament I dreamt about,” Mickelson said. “This time, it’s a great feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment to have been able to beat such a great field.”

The rest of the Big Five was lined up behind him, all within four shots going into the final round.

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None could touch him.

Mickelson finished at 7-under 281 and earned $1.26 million, putting him atop the PGA Tour money list. The victory moved him up to No. 2 in the world behind Woods and identified him as a major force.

This was the third straight year Mickelson has won a major — Woods is the only other player to have done that in the last 20 years. Only five others have won majors in three straight seasons since the Masters began in 1934.

“I’m having the best time right now,” Mickelson said. “I’m having so much fun being able to compete for major championships. It’s just incredible. And to win a couple now, it’s an amazing feeling.”

Clark holed a bunker shot from across the 18th green for birdie that left him alone in second with a 69.

Woods, who was trying to become the first player to twice defend his Masters title, could only blame his putter. He had two eagle putts inside 15 feet on the back nine and missed them both, and he had six three-putts this week. He holed a 25-foot birdie on the 18th hole that just about made him curse, although it gave him a 70 and a tie for third.

“I putted atrociously today,” Woods said. “As good as I hit it, that’s as bad as I putted.”

At the green jacket ceremony, Mickelson asked the crowd for a moment of silence to pray for Woods’ father, Earl, who could not travel to Augusta for the first time because of cancer.

Woods said he would talk to his father Sunday night, and joked that “he’s probably a little mad at how I putted today.”

Joining Woods at 4-under 284 were Couples (71), Retief Goosen (69), Chad Campbell (71) and Jose Maria Olazabal, whose 66 was the best score all week on the super-sized course.

But it was Couples who had the best chance to challenge Mickelson, and had he won, it would have been especially poignant.

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