2009 Playoffs review: Time to hand out a few awards
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
The 2009 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup are in the books, with the game's best player claiming the TOUR's biggest prize. But asTiger Woods celebrates his second FedExCup win in three years, we'll take a look back at the biggest developments during the four Playoffs events.
BEST PERFORMANCE
• Tiger Woods, of course. His FedExCup win reflects an entire body of work through the Playoffs, just as it should be. He won one tournament (the BMW Championship), took solo second in another (THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola), tied for second in a third (The Barclays) and had another high finish in another (tie for 11th at the Deutsche Bank Championship). His performance in the first three Playoffs events gave him the luxury of not having to win at East Lake, but there's no arguing that the most deserving player of the 125-man Playoffs field ended up with the top prize.
BEST PERFORMANCES BY NON-WINNERS:
• Padraig Harrington and Jim Furyk. Struggling most of the year following swing changes after a 2008 season in which he won two majors, Harrington finally found his game just before the Playoffs started. He was determined to make a big push and break through with his first win of the year. It didn't happen, but you can't argue with his consistency in at least giving himself chances to win. He was the only player in the Playoffs to finish in the top 10 of each event (T2 at The Barclays, T4 at Deutsche Bank, T6 at BMW Championship, T4 at THE TOUR Championship). Meanwhile, Furyk placed in the top 10 in the last three Playoffs events, and he entered THE TOUR Championship in the top five in points, which gave him the ability to control his own destiny. Furyk has been shut out of the winner's circle even longer than Harrington, but it seems like just a matter of time before they end their respective droughts.
BEST ROUNDS
• Tiger Woods' third-round 62 at Cog Hill -- Tiger began his round with a bogey, but by the time he finished his round of 9 under, he had a) set the course record; b) produced his lowest round of the year and c) put the clamps on the BMW Championship by taking a seven-shot lead going into the final round. It was a round, Tiger said, that "kind of built upon itself." And he kind of built it into a monster.
• Phil Mickelson's final-round 65 at East Lake -- On a Sunday afternoon at a tough course with everything on the line, Mickelson produced the day's only bogey-free round to claim THE TOUR Championship. In fact, his 5-under round bested the field's scoring average by more than six strokes. "What Phil's doing is pretty remarkable," Steve Stricker said as Mickelson was putting the finishing touches on his round.
• Steve Stricker's third-round 65 at TPC Boston -- After shooting 72 in the second round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, Stricker needed to shoot himself back in the tournament. He didn't just go low; he went the lowest -- his 6-under round was equaled by no one else that day. It helped that playing partner Jerry Kelly was nearly as hot, firing a 67. "We fed off one another," Stricker said, "and I just had a little bit stronger finish than he did."
BEST UNDER-THE-RADAR ROUND
• Tiger Woods' final-round 63 at TPC Boston -- It's weird to think that Tiger can shoot a 63 in the final round of any PGA TOUR event and have no impact on the leaderboard. But starting the day nine shots off the pace, Tiger knew he was too far away to contend, so he simply let it loose, a rare opportunity to play with no pressure. He went out in a course record-tying 30 and the buzz of a potential 59 quickly made its way through the gallery. A bogey at the 16th ended that possibility, but it was fun while it lasted.
THREE BIGGEST SHOTS
• Heath Slocum's 20-foot par putt on the 18th, final round, The Barclays. Tiger Woods couldn't make his seven-footer for birdie. Steve Stricker failed to make his 10-footer for par. But Slocum nailed his lengthy putt on the 72nd hole to seal his first TOUR win in four years and provide an early Playoffs shock. "That putt on the last was magical," Slocum said. "I'll remember that for the rest of my life." Watch the winning putt 
• Steve Stricker's second shot on the 18th, third round, Deutsche Bank Championship. Stricker said his maximum length with his hybrid usually is 225 yards. But to reach TPC Boston's par-5 18th in two, he needed to hit it 230 yards. No worries. After barely clearing the creek, his ball landed five feet away for eagle. "I maxed that one out, and it turned out good," Stricker said. A day later, he went on to win by one stroke. Catch Stricker's shot on the highlight reel
• Phil Mickelson's chip-in on the 16th, final round, THE TOUR Championship. The short-game master displayed a touch that arguably no one else can match. Finding himself with a tricky chip from a bad lie 15 feet from the pin, Mickelson sealed his victory by finding the bottom of the cup with his 64-degree wedge. "To make that shot was unbelievable," Mickelson said. "That ball could have shot off in any direction, and it shot off in the hole. That was nice." Check out Mickelson's shot of the day
THREE BIGGEST SURPRISES
• Heath Slocum winning The Barclays. He barely squeezed into the Playoffs and was next-to-last in points going into Liberty National. But on a tricky course that few pros had ever played, Slocum won for the first time in four years, quickly showing that underdogs can have their day on the PGA TOUR.
• Last year's top four failing to reach East Lake. Defending FedExCup champion Vijay Singh was knocked out after the second Playoffs event. Camilo Villegas, Sergio Garcia and Anthony Kim, Nos. 2, 3 and 4, respectively, in last year's FedExCup points, were knocked out at Cog Hill. That meant Villegas couldn't defend his TOUR Championship title.
• Not much noise from this year's major winners. In a combined 16 starts, they had more missed cuts (three) than top 10s (two). Masters champion Angel Cabrera tied for fourth at Deutsche Bank, and U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover tied for 10th at THE TOUR Championship, but other than that, the major winners made no impact. Stewart Cink's best finish was a disappointing tie for 19th at East Lake, one of his favorite courses. And PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang's best result was 18th at East Lake. In all, the four major winners played 58 rounds in the Playoffs and managed to break 70 just 13 times.
THREE BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCES
• Marc Leishman. Starting the Playoffs 78th in points, then dropping to 93rd after missing the cut at The Barclays, the rookie from Australia played his way into the BMW Championship by tying for 15th at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Then he played his way into THE TOUR Championship by tying for second at the BMW Championship. He never found his game at East Lake, but he may have found the path to Rookie of the Year honors.
• Jason Dufner. A career-best finish with a tie for second at the Deutsche Bank Championship essentially set up Dufner to make the field at East Lake (he secured his spot with a tie for 30th at Cog Hill). It wasn't a complete shock to see Dufner in contention; he's had five other top-10 finishes this year.
• Steve Marino. His performance in the Playoffs was an extension of his strong play all season, which included a playoff loss at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and the 36-hole co-lead with Tom Watson at the British Open. In the Playoffs, Marino shared the 54-hole lead with Paul Goydos at The Barclays, shared the first-round lead with Rory Sabbatini at the BMW Championship, and tied for seventh at THE TOUR Championship.
THREE CRUEL MOMENTS
• Brandt Snedeker on the 72nd hole, BMW Championship. Snedeker only needed bogey to secure his spot in the top 30 for THE TOUR Championship, which offers perks such as guaranteed invites to the first three majors. But after missing a 12-foot putt for par, Snedeker's 3-foot bogey putt caught the lip of the cup and spun out. Snedeker was so stunned that he missed the tap-in for double bogey, too. "I can't believe I did this," he said.
• Paul Goydos and Steve Marino in the final pairing at The Barclays. They entered the final round tied for the lead at 9 under, two shots ahead of the rest of the field. If you were expecting an unlikely winner, you figured it would be one of those two, not Heath Slocum, who started four shots behind. But Goydos and Marino quickly shot themselves out of it, eventually combining to go 10 over on the day.
• Kenny Perry's final round at THE TOUR Championship. He shot a magnificent 64 the day before to give himself a two-shot lead entering Sunday, but with lots of family and supporters looking on, Perry unfortunately couldn't deliver that same magic again, finishing with a 4-over 74. But in retrospect, Perry was already a big winner, having been honored with this year's Payne Stewart Award, which he humbly accepted as "one of the greatest honors I've had bestowed on me."
ODDS AND ENDS
• Best view. Standing on the teebox at the par-3 second hole at Liberty National. Look straight at the flag, and then look up -- you'll see the Statue of Liberty in the distance. She'll even provide a little help with your aim if you need it.
• Best weather. Deutsche Bank Championship. Four perfect days in Massachusetts. If only the TOUR could bottle that and use it every week.
• Best weather decision. Moving up the tee times on Saturday at East Lake. With torrential rain forecast for Saturday afternoon, tournament officials moved up play to avoid the bad conditions. The move paid off, as the 30-man field finished the third round less than an hour before thunderstorms rolled through the Atlanta area. It doesn't always work out as perfectly as it did that day.
• Best commute to a course. Taking the water taxi to Liberty National. Several players stayed in Manhattan during The Barclays and used the water taxi to make the easy commute across the Hudson. The taxi let them off just steps from the front of the clubhouse. Along the way, passengers got an up-close view of the Statue of Liberty. "Every morning we cruise right by it on the ferry and same thing going back," said Phil Mickelson. "It makes me appreciate where we live. We live in the greatest place."
• Best return. Cog Hill. Nice to see the public course host the BMW Championship again after taking last year off while undergoing extensive renovations by Rees Jones to make it tougher. Considering Tiger Woods won with a score of 19 under, a few more tweaks might be needed.
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