Mickelson hooks drive at British Open onto hotel balcony

He may have finished outside the top 10 at St Andrews, but Phil Mickelson ensured he still made the highlights reel on the final day of the British Open by thumping a drive onto a hotel balcony.

The American, who won the Open in 2013, was looking to finish this year's tournament in style when he pulled out his driver on the dogleg 17th and attempted to cut the corner.

While the ball sailed in the correct direction, Mickelson overcooked the shot, resulting in an inglorious out-of-bounds as the ball crashed into the Old Course Hotel that borders the famous Road Hole.

It eventually came to rest on a balcony - outside of room 130 - forcing him to take the drive again and resulting in a disappointing triple-bogey 7.

Mickelson finished the tournament at 7-under-par and said afterwards that he wasn't overly disappointed by the shot that ruined his round.

"The good news for me is that as I stood up there, I trusted the swing," Mickelson said.

"I hit a good, solid shot. It just over-drew a little bit. I was trying to draw it around the corner. It wasn't like it was a horrific shot. I just overturned it.

"Usually when I get in that situation, the miss is way left, and I like how I'm starting to hit it a little bit more solid."

American Zach Johnson claimed the second major of his career after winning the Open in a four-hole playoff over Australian Marc Leishman and South African Louis Oosthuizen.