Mickelson Tops Tiger to Take the Tour Championship; Woods Wins FedEx Cup

He continued, “I’m looking forward to the offseason, but more than that, I’m looking forward to getting myself right for next year.”

As for Woods, after he sat out last season with a knee injury, Woods again won the Fed Ex Cup (his second overall win). He responded, “The whole idea is to be consistent, for the entire season, and try and position yourself as best as you possibly can for the playoffs. This year, I’ve played well, and very consistent. When I didn’t win, I was in the top 10, so I kept accumulating points, and then, you know, in the playoffs I played pretty good.”

Kenny Perry’s nerves might be getting to him, after he skied two shots over the green on consecutive holes and smacked the tee shot on number five into the woods. Phil Mickelson meanwhile has moved up the leaderboard and leap-frogged Tiger, now just one stroke behind Perry for the lead.

On the 255-yard Par 3 Sixth, Ernie Els snaked a low tee shot over the water and onto the front edge of the green. The ball then rolled over the left ridge and straight for the pin, inexplicably popping out of the hole after hitting the stick straight on.

After taking a two-stroke lead Saturday, Kenny Perry hopes to fend off Tiger Woods and win the final round of the Tour Championship on Sunday. Woods, meanwhile, would like to make par and thereby clinch the FedEx Cup.SB Nation’s Waggle Room is looking for a spoiler:

For the ninth time this year, Padraig Harrington will be paired with Tiger Woods, and the Irishman is looking forward to playing alongside the circus that follows Tiger everywhere he goes on the golf course.

For further coverage and analysis of the Tour Championship, check out Waggle Room.

Tiger Woods heads into the weekend with a lead in the Tour Championship, going for another historic major victory. With Tiger as the lone top seed in the FedEx Cup standings in the top ten on the leaderboard, he finds himself in perfect position to score the $10 million top prize. You know, because Tiger needs the money.

Still, if he is able to hold onto his lead over the weekend it mark a triumphant return for Tiger Woods, who worked hard to return from knee surgeries following last year’s US Open. It will take a monumental collapse from Tiger, and a win by Padraig Harrington or Sean O’Hair, to lose his grip on the FedEx Cup.

Tiger just drained about a 10-footer on the 9th for birdie and the outright lead. He’s at 5-under for the tournament, with Cink and Harrington one shot back.

Tiger birdies 7 and 8; Cink birdies 4 and 7; Harrington birdies 4 and 8; and O’Hair bogeys 7. All of this equals a three-way tie at the top, with those first three names all tied at 4-under for the tournament. O’Hair is one back at 3-under.

Stay tuned — this leaderboard shifts after just about every hole.

The first group to tee off today — David Toms and Geoff Ogilvy — is in the clubhouse. Ogilvy remains where he started the day: dead last with an 8-over for the tournament. Toms, however, shot a 4-under 66 to move to even for the tournament and within striking distance of the leaders.

Speaking of, Padriag Harrington and Sean O’Hair are now tied for the lead at 4-under thanks to an early birdie on the 4th from Harrington.

Phil Mickelson struggled on Thursday, shooting a 3-over 73, including an 8 on the 14th.

Today, however, he’s putting some scores on the board with three birdies through his first eight holes. He threw in one bogey, so he sits at 2-under for the day and nearing the turn. He’s now 1-over for the tournament, leaving him 5-strokes back of Sean O’Hair, who tees off in 30 minutes.

Stewart Cink has the (VERY) early lead as play is officially underway in THE TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, GA.

This is the final event in the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the FedEx Cup is up for grabs. PGATOUR.com broke down how each of the 30 players in the field can win the FedEx Cup earlier this week, but really only a handful of players have a real shot at winning. Only the top five players in the FedEx Cup standings (Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and Heath Slocum) can win the Cup by winning at East Lake this weekend, but others can win the Cup with help from those five. If this all sounds a little silly, that’s because it probably is, but be sure to check back for updates throughout the Championship as the FedEx Cup winner (probably Tiger Woods) gets decided.