And the winner is: Mickelson AND Woods

Mike Dudurich

Posted 2009-09-27

It took long enough, but the PGA Tour finally got what it’s been yearning for: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson finishing one-two (and two-one) and standing next to one another on the victory stand.

The Tour’s intent with the FedEx Cup was to create excitement until the last putt dropped in the official season-ending Tour Championship and it certainly accomplished that. The two most popular names in the game were the last two standing and, just the way they drew it up down in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Woods came to East Lake Golf Club in suburban Atlanta seeded first in the 30-man field, giving him the most leeway to win the FedEx Cup and the $10 million bonus that goes with it. He accomplished that by finishing second as a result of a lackluster round, although he did birdie 15 and 16 to finish at even par for the day.

Mickelson, on the other hand, came to Atlanta this week 14th in the FedEx Cup standings but jumped all the way to second in those standings by shooting 66-65 on the weekend. That earned him a nice little FedEx Cup bonus of $3 million, to go along with the $1.35 he got for winning the Tour Championship.

"Let me see if I get this straight," Mickelson said afterward. "I shot 65 and he shot (70), and he gets a check for $10 million ... no, I'm just kidding. I didn't play well in the first three events to give myself a chance."

"Phil played well. He did the things he needed to do this week," Woods said. "Unfortunately, I didn't putt well, and consequently, I didn't push him. Phil ran off and got away from us."

Once Mickelson blazed his way front-and-center into the final round with a 31 on the front nine, much of the attention was focused on he and where Woods would eventually finish.

In the meantime, however, two other players had chances to win the FedEx Cup once the field made the turn.

-- Kenny Perry had the 54-hole lead, but once again failed to close the deal. He bogeyed the ninth hole and went on to shoot matching 37 for a 74.

-- Steve Stricker, who flip-flopped with Woods a couple times during the playoff run in the top two spots, needed to only finish ahead of Woods Sunday, once it became clear that Mickelson was going to win the event. But he bogeyed the 16th and 17th, shot 69 and finished sixth.

“I knew it was close, put it that way," Stricker said of the FedExCup race. "Whatever. I played my hardest."

While Woods and Mickelson winning is great for the image of the game and the PGA Tour, Mickelson’s winning the Tour Championship is great for a guy who really hasn’t had a very good year. His 37th career victory was his third of the year, the first since May when it was announced that his wife, Amy, and then his mother, May, had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“It means a lot to finish the year off on such a good note,” Mickelson said. “We’ve been through a lot, and I’m very proud of my wife and my mom on the fight that they’ve been through. We’re in good shape. Although day-to-day is tough, and it’s not easy for them, we’re fortunate that our long-term outlook is good.”

The other side of the superstar coin is that, for the third time in 2009, Woods struggled playing in the final group on Sunday. Making no birdies until the 15th, Woods didn’t have a realistic chance to catch Mickelson. His 70 ended a nifty little streak of eight straight playoff rounds in the 60s.

The explanation for Woods apparently showing signs of being subject to the same pitfalls as his fellow competitors is not an easy one. A number of factors could be pointed at, but there is one common thread that runs throughout: putting.

The runaway best player in the world struggled in some very un-Tiger like moments with his flat stick or chances are very good that he’d have had 2 or 3 more wins than the 6 he did record.

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About Mike...
As a sports writer for over 35 years, Mike Dudurich has seen a lot of great things, covered spectacular events, but his passion is, and has been golf. He recently ended a 29-year career at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and will now be a frequent contributor on GolfGearReview.com. Mike hosts a weekly golf radio show on 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh from the beginning of April through the end of August. The show airs Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and can be heard online at http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1250/show?showId=insidepghgolf - Listen to Mike Here!.

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