Phil Mickelson wins The Tour Championship

Phil Mickelson won The Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta but, with his second place finish, Tiger Woods secured victory in the FedEx Cup and picked up the $10 million first prize.

Mickelson fired a superb closing 65 at East Lake to come from three behind at the start of Sunday's play to win by three from Woods. It was his 37th PGA Tour victory and it pushed him back to second on the Official World Golf Ranking. The win marked the end of a difficult summer for Mickelson after both his wife and mother were diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring.

"It means a lot to finish the year off on such a good note," Mickelson said. "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."

Although Tiger lost out to Phil in this event, his second place was enough to insure he claimed the FedEx Cup and the $10 million first prize for the second time in three years. But Tiger could only feel disappointment at missing out at East Lake.

"All I know is I was three and four back, I just needed to push, needed a run or two or three birdies to get me right back in the ball game," Woods said. "Unfortunately, that run didn't happen until 15. And that's a little late."

Mickelson took the initiative with an excellent front nine of 31. He solidified his position with six straight pars on the back nine before chipping in for birdie from behind the 16th green. Two more pars were enough to secure the win.

Padraig Harrington fought back manfully during the final round after a poor start saw him drop back to just one-under-par. The Irishman made birdies at the 7th, 11th, 14th and 15th to get back into contention. He eventually finished the week on four-under in fourth place behind Mickelson, Woods and Sean O'Hair.

Overnight leader Kenny Perry had a disappointing last round of 74 to drop back into a tie for fourth with Harrington.

The Tour Championship presented by Coca Cola East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia Sep 24-27, purse $7,500,000, par 70

1    Phil Mickelson (USA)    73    67    66    65    271    $1,350,000 2    Tiger Woods (USA)    67    68    69    70    274    $810,000 3    Sean O'Hair (USA)    66    70    70    69    275    $517,500 T4    Padraig Harrington (Ire) 67    69    71    69    276    $330,000 T4    Kenny Perry (USA)    72    66    64    74    276    $330,000 6    Steve Stricker (USA)    70    72    66    69    277    $270,000 T7    Jim Furyk (USA)        72    68    71    67    278    $247,500 T7    Steve Marino (USA)    69    71    67    71    278    $247,500 9    Ernie Els (RSA)        71    66    71    71    279    $225,000 T10    Lucas Glover (USA)    68    71    72    69    280    $202,500 T10    Jerry Kelly (USA)        71    67    71    71    280    $202,500 T10    John Senden (Aus)    70    70    69    71    280    $202,500

Player scores listed in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only