Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Thirty of the top players in the world competed at East Lake GC, the final leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, last week. And if you weren’t watching football, then you saw how exciting the finish was.

Phil and Tiger both made the winner’s circle. Phil won the Tour Championship, but Tiger walked away with the extra fatty $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup. Not a bad payday, huh? Though I think he would have gladly traded the paycheck for Phil’s trophy — we know he doesn’t like finishing second at anything! And it’s not like he needs the money or plays for it.

Phil played a flawless final round and shot 5-under 65 to best Tiger by 3 strokes. His short game deserves the most credit for the excellent victory. He had been struggling around the greens over the past few months, but a short putting tutorial from Dave Stockton last week got him back on track. Phil’s shot of the day came at the 16th hole, where he chipped in for birdie!

As Tiger so often does, he contributed to the excitement toward the end of the day. He was having a ho-hum round until he (finally) made his first birdie on the 15th. Then he followed it with another on the 16th, draining a long putt.

Meanwhile, PUMA athlete Geoff Ogilvy finished T16. After a terrible start (he was DFL after the first round!), he fired an excellent 6-under 64 on Saturday and then even-par on Sunday. Way to come back and great job!

The tournament and playoffs were a success because of the results, but the FedEx Cup hasn’t escaped further scrutiny. No one gets the uber-complicated points system. (I’m beginning to think that the PGA just wants to confuse us.) Even Phil doesn’t get it. After his round he quipped, “I want to see if I understand this right. I shot 65 and Tiger shot 70. He gets a check for $10 million.” He said he was “joking,” but…

So, there you have it — the world’s number one and two winning on the same day — I can’t think of a better way to close the official ‘09 season.