While I finish my Prez Cup preview, my intern and number one assistant Maggie MacAlpine has her first ever sports story for you all! Way to go, Maggie: We’ll have you in the media tent with a crediential in no time!
by Maggie MacAlpine
In previous years, the finish of the PGA TOUR’s season-long FedEx Cup held few surprises but, finally, this year the winner of the $10,000,000.00 cash grab remained a mystery right until the final round of the final event of the golf season. Tiger Woods shot a 2-under par 70 to claim second place in the TOUR Championship held at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta, but took first place in golf’s version of a NASCAR-like “points race” style competition which assigns points for finishes at events held throughout the year. Fan favorite Phil Mickelson won the Tour Championship after closing with a bogey-free 5-under 65, to win by three shots over Woods. Young gun and rising star Sean O’Hair finished third.
The excitement that attended this years Fed Ex Cup stands in sharp contrast to either of the previous years. In 2008, Vijay Singh accumulated enough points in the first two weeks of the four week pseudo-playoffs to clinch the Cup before the TOUR Championship even began. He had merely to complete four rounds upright and in conscious state of awareness to earn the top prize. In 2007 Tiger Woods was able to win the $10 million annuity (a rule since changed) while skipping one event entirely.
Since then, the rules have been adjusted for the third time in the tournament’s three-year history. This year, a reset of the points favors the top players, while still allowing for the others to gain ground over a four week series of “playoff” events where golfers are eliminated each week. Mickelson’s strong finish earned him second place in the year-long series and $3 million. Deutsche Bank Champion and newly minted “Mr. September,” Steve Stricker, finished third after coming in sixth place at East Lake. Back-to-back bogeys at 16 and 17 allowed Kenny Perry and Irishman Padraig Harrington to tie for 4th place ahead of him. Former U.S. Open Champion Jim Furyk finished fourth. O’Hair rounded out the top 5 in the FedEx Cup standings. Kenny Perry, the 49-year old who lost the Masters this year after heartbreaking bogeys on 17 and 18, started the day alone at the top of the TOUR Championship leaderboard, but a 4-over 74 took him out of contention.
If there was a big surprise, it was the Phil Mickelson’s remarkable resurgence and victory over Woods with a scintillating, bogey-free 65 to close. Every golfer has a story – glory, great victories, and heartbreaking losses – but burdened all year with family concerns that make golf seem trivial, Mickelson’s win at East Lake resonated with golf fans across the world. Shortly after the Masters, his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Six weeks later, his mother also was diagnosed with the disease. This double tragedy clearly weighed on his mind in the months since: He was only competitive in one major event, the U.S. Open and skipped The Open Championship at Turnberry. His finished 73d in the PGA Championship, and in the other three FedEx Cup “playoff” events he finished 52d, 27th, and 30th.
“It means a lot to finish the year off on such a good note,” Mickelson said in an interview. “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.”
While this particular battle in this generation’s greatest golf rivalry went to Mickelson, the war went to Woods, at least for the 2009 season. Woods was still disappointed he didn’t win the TOUR Championship, he had his eye firmly set on winning and “let the FedEx Cup take care of itself,” he said before the final round. Even Mickelson acknowledged that Woods deserved to win the Cup because of his consistent record throughout the year. Woods won six events this season, but no majors.
The expectations placed on Woods are always incredibly, even impossibly high, yet it’s clear to see that the person with the highest expectations for Woods will always be himself. Woods’s recovery from recent knee surgery may or may not be complete, according to who you ask. But even out of top form, Woods plays a game that life-long golfers yearn for on their best days. Everyone else has to play their best just to stay even with him, if they can even do that.
“There’s a reason he’s number one in the world. He’s leaps and bounds ahead of number two,” explained prominent journalist and broadcaster Tom Auclair – who has only missed one PGA tournament in the last 12 years and is easily one of the greatest minds in golf. “He has amazing consistency after coming back from his surgery. He’s back on his game,” he said. “Golf is the hardest game in the world, you can look like a tremendous player one day and junk the next. When you can do what Tiger Woods has done, the expectations are crazy, but they’re crazy because of the standard he has set.”
