The final putt of Tiger Woods' last round in the Tour Championship yesterday was devoid of emotion.  It was a nice up-and-down for par following a poor tee shot.  It was the proper conclusion to the day for Woods, who shot an even par round of 70 and finished in second place to Phil Mickelson.

Initially, fans probably thought that Sunday would become a showdown between Woods and Kenny Perry, who insisted that Woods bring his A game to East Lake for the deciding round.  After an early surge, though, Perry sputtered out rather quickly.  He was nothing more than a sympathy character on Sunday.

For a time, it appeared that Woods could lose on two fronts.  With Mickelson having had the tournament in tow early on in the back nine, the only question remaining was that of the FedExCup.  At the sixteenth tee, Steve Stricker had a temporary lead over Woods for the $10 million prize.  Consecutive bogeys on 16 and 17, though, dashed his chances to play spoiler and make Woods a loser twice over on Sunday.

In the end, Woods was able to watch Phil MIckelson lock up the Tour Championship in the group in front of him.  For his part, Lefty was not much more expressive about the win and the $1.35 million first place prize than Woods was about winning $10 million and the FedExCup.

Mickelson at East Lake's par 3 6th on Sunday
Credit: Rob Matre | Click for larger image

Perhaps it was Mickelson's indignation that he could perform so well over the final three days of the tournament and still come up nearly $7 million short of Woods' bounty for the week.  Yes, Mickelson surged from 14th to 2nd in the FedExCup - netting $3 million in bonus money - but it may have wrung hollow.

He told NBC Sports' Mark Rolfing, "I want to see if I understand this right. I shot 65 and Tiger shot 70. He gets a check for $10 million."

The not-so-veiled shot at Tim Finchem and the FedExCup aside, Mickelson has other things on his mind than winning golf tournaments.  He can appear vapid until 2010.

For Woods, though, he is the only person that can make winning $10 million look like he barely won a Cheese Whiz sandwich in the clubhouse.  Understandably, Woods is frustrated that he didn't win the golf tournament.  But the least he could do for the middle-class fan is look kind of happy to win the FedExCup.  Everyone knows he is a billionaire and needs the money like Rod Blagojevich needs another 15 minutes of fame, but throw the people a bone.

It was clear, though, that Woods wanted the parlay - a win at East Lake and the FedExCup, and in that order.  The FedExCup may turn out to be Woods' second, but it may be one of the few times in his career that he felt like a loser while being the winner. 

The Tour Championship turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory for Tiger.  Sure, he may have won a boatload of money to float on East Lake, but now Phil Mickelson has apparently returned prepared to keep Tiger's majorless mini-slump going.