Golf Fedex Cup

Last weekend, the PGA Tour concluded with some much-needed FedEx Cup drama. For two years, the PGA Tour's playoff system had failed, basically crowning the winner before the final event had even concluded. Now, for the first time since the PGA Tour went FedEx, we had putts on a Sunday that were for more than just the tournament at hand -- they were for a prize most guys on tour couldn't totally grasp.

So what is the next logical move? The LPGA getting its own FedEx Cup, or so Dottie Pepper thinks. On Tuesday, Pepper wrote on Golf.com that she thinks the LPGA could benefit from a FedEx Cup-style postseason, pointing out the extra exposure for sponsors and such. The problem with Pepper's plan is simple -- the LPGA can't get sponsors right now ... for anything. Why focus on adding something new to the schedule when all the regulars that have been around for years and years are dropping out like bar patrons at 1:58 in the morning.

Here is Pepper's plan.

ATLANTA -- That went well.

Anytime the PGA Tour can put Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in headlines on the same day, life is good. So while some pesky loopholes remain in the most-recently revised edition of the FedEx Cup playoff series, none of them showed up Sunday at East Lake Golf Club.

Mr. Popular 1 and Mr. Popular 1A provided the PGA Tour's regular season with a near-perfect close. Mickelson broke out of a funk with some of his best golf of a tough year to win the Tour Championship. Woods, the season leader with six victories, got what he deserved -- recognition as the year's best performer.

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.

ATLANTA -- Tiger Woods won the FedEx Cup Sunday at East Lake Golf Club, collecting a $10 million bonus, which in anybody's world ranks as serious cha-ching.

How very nice.

Now, about Phil Mickelson.

It isn't easy upstaging golf's best player winning the season's biggest award, but standing beside Woods on the 18th green for a double trophy presentation, Mickelson drew the spotlight like the lead man in a prison break.

He shot a final-round 65 and finished 9 under to win the Tour Championship, coming from four shots out of the 54-hole lead to finish three shots in front of the second-place Woods.

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Earlier this season, Phil Mickelson came out with a DVD easily named, "Secrets of the Short Game." The creative short game guru showed all sorts of shots to hit around the green and how best to execute them.

On Sunday at East Lake, Mickelson stood behind the 16th green, needing to pull off one of those shots he showed on the video -- a chip from just in the rough to a short pin over the fringe. The short shot came out high, landed soft and went directly in the middle of the cup, leading to a huge fist-pump for Lefty and a three shot lead.

Just like in 2000, when Phil shot a final round 66 to steal the Tour Championship from Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, Phil fired a Sunday 65 to take his third victory of the 2009 season and first since March 15, at the WGC-CA Championship.

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ATLANTA -- Tiger Woods is guaranteed to win the FedEx Cup and $10 million playoff bonus Sunday at East Lake Golf Club with a victory in the Tour Championship.

Considering he is two shots back of third-round leader Kenny Perry's 8 under, while both Sean O'Hair and Phil Mickelson are within two shots of Woods, that's not necessarily guaranteed. Also in the picture is Padraig Harrington, five shots back of Perry.

Possible scenarios for claiming the bonus:

ATLANTA -- As the folks who know him back home in Franklin, Ky., might say, "Attaboy, Kenny."

A good guy had a good day Saturday at East Lake Golf Club. Kenny Perry shot 64 and is 8 under through 54 holes of the Tour Championship. He owns a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods.

If that is not enough to make your windmill turn, then you do not know enough about Kenny Perry.

If Tiger Woods is the face of golf -- and most certainly he is -- then Kenny Perry is its heart.

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ATLANTA -- Kenny Perry birdied four consecutive holes to start Saturday's third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, shot 64 and, at 8 under, will take a two-shot lead into the final day.

Tiger Woods posted 69, and is in second place at 6 under, but continues to hold the inside track for the FedEx Cup title and $10 million in bonus money.

Even if Perry holds on Sunday and wins, Woods still claims the FedEx Cup with any finish better than a three-way tie for third.

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ATLANTA -- East Lake Golf Club has a lot going for it.

Players seem to honestly like the historic course designed by Donald Ross and, if you are looking for history, this is where Bobby Jones learned to play the game as a kid.

There is, however, the finishing hole.

It's a par 3. At 235 yards with an elevated green and front bunkers to the right and left, it's a bear of a par-3, mind you, but still a par 3 to end a golf tournament. A very important golf tournament.

ATLANTA -- This is as close as the PGA Tour gets to a summer rerun.

Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington are back again, this time for the final twosome of today's third round of the Tour Championship. For the record, it will be the eighth time this year and the fourth since August they will have shared a pairing.

John Daly spends that much time with one person and he owes alimony.

There is nothing to litigate here.

Harrington could not be happier with the partnership.

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