Tour Championship Notebook: Challengers Fall Aside

ATLANTA -- It would take a boatload of nerve to come down the stretch of a golf tournament, playing for a $10 million bonus and not lose a single bodily function.

So how much fun was it Sunday afternoon at East Lake Golf Club watching the PGA Tour's best look like they were in need of a extra-large jar of antacids?

Phil Mickelson was the lucky one. Beginning the week No. 14 on the FedEx Cup points list, Lefty admitted from the start he had the slimiest of chances. So he went out Sunday, shot 65 and won The Tour Championship.

The problems were for players who realized what they were chasing.

The problems were for players who realized what they were chasing.

Finally, Tiger Woods got in with an even-par 70 to finish second behind Mickelson, and that was enough to secure the FedEx Cup title. But he had to step around some bodies to get there.

Third-round leader Kenny Perry needed to win and for Woods to finish in a three-way tie or worse to collect the big prize.

Perry birdied the second hole and led the tournament by four shots, and then made four bogeys and a double to shoot 74.

Steve Stricker, needing to finish in front of Woods, birdied 15 and at that moment led the FedEx chase. He bogeyed 16 and 17.

"You know, it was on my mind," Stricker said of the prize.

Sean O'Hair also played himself into the hunt. He could have collected the bonus money with a tournament win, and Woods finishing in a three-way tie or worse.

O'Hair shot 69, but bogeyed the 18th hole.

"I thought it was exciting," he said.

Even Woods had final-round difficulties.

Woods bogeyed Nos. 1 and 13, and after 14 holes was the only player on the golf course without at least one birdie or eagle.

As Woods sagged on the leaderboard, scenarios for different winners multiplied like John and Kate.

Padraig Harrington, needing a win and a Woods tie for second or worse, birdied 14 and 15 to get into the picture. Then bogeyed 18.

In the end, however, Woods finished like a player who had been there before. He birdied the par-5 15th with a tap-in and rolled in another at 16.

What Could Have Been

Kenny Perry turned 49 in August which means he probably will never have a shot at another season like this might have been.

He did win two tournaments, but the ones that got away will not be easily forgotten.

At the Masters, Perry owned a two-shot lead with two holes to play, and made two bogeys before losing to Angel Cabrera in a playoff.

And Sunday at East Lake, he owned a two-shot lead after three rounds and was four shots clear of the field with 16 holes to play, only to come unglued with four bogeys and a double.

Noteworthy

Mickelson began the week with a 3-over 73, the highest start for an eventual winner in The Tour Championship history. During that opening round, he posted a quadruple-bogey 8 on the par-4 14th hole. ... Woods now has four runner-up finishes at the Tour Championship (2000, 2004, 2005, 2009), his most at any single event. ... Padraig Harrington tied for fourth, his six consecutive top-10 finish on tour. ... Ernie Els almost recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3 sixth hole Sunday from 225 yards. Els' tee shot hit the flagstick and stopped less than a foot from the hole. He went on to a 1-over 71 to finish in 9th place.