Final-round notebook: THE TOUR Championship

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ATLANTA -- Phil Mickelson shot a front-nine 31 en route to a final-round 5-under 65 for a three-stroke victory over Tiger Woods (70) at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. The win is Mickelson's 37th career victory (12th all-time) and his second at THE TOUR Championship (2000, 2009). The win makes him just the second multiple winner at the event (Tiger Woods -- 1999, 2007), but the first to win twice at East Lake Golf Club.

• Mickelson began the week with a 3-over 73, the highest start for an eventual winner in THE TOUR Championship's history. During that opening round, he posted a quadruple-bogey 8 on the par-4 14th hole.

• With the victory, Mickelson moved from 14th to second in the final 2009 FedExCup standings. Mickelson is the only player to finish in the top 10 in the final standings in each of the first three years of the FedExCup (2007: third, 2008: seventh, 2009: second).

• Mickelson's 2009 PGA TOUR Playoffs recap: The Barclays (T52), Deutsche Bank Championship (T27), BMW Championship (T30), THE TOUR Championship (Won).

• With a runner-up finish on Sunday, the 27th of his career, Tiger Woods earned 1,500 points to win the FedExCup for the second time in his career (2007, 2009). The only other player to win the trophy was Vijay Singh (2008).

• Sunday marked the 24th time Woods has entered the final round either solo or tied for second. He has won 10 of those events.

• Sunday was the 21st time that Woods has been in the final group but not in the lead. He has won nine of those events.

• Sunday represented the 73rd time Woods has been in the final group. He has won 57 of those tournaments (48 when leading, nine when trailing).

• Woods' 2009 PGA TOUR Playoffs recap: The Barclays (T2), Deutsche Bank Championship (T11), BMW Championship (Won), THE TOUR Championship (second).

• The four runner-up finishes at THE TOUR Championship (2000, 2004, 2005, 2009) are the most in any single event for Woods.

• Woods shot a final-round, even-par 70 -- his first round of 70 or above in 12 rounds at THE TOUR Championship (Playoff events only). His last round of 70 or above at THE TOUR Championship was a final-round 72 in 2004.

• Third-round leader Kenny Perry entered the day with a two-stroke lead over Tiger Woods, but a 4-over 74 left him five strokes behind Mickelson. The tie for fourth is his first top-10 effort in 11 Playoff events.

• Padraig Harrington tied for fourth this week for his sixth consecutive top-10 finish on TOUR.

• Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk are the only two players who have played in all 48 rounds of the three years of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

• With a sixth-place finish at THE TOUR Championship, Steve Stricker moved into a tie with Camilo Villegas with a TOUR-leading, seven top-10 finishes in Playoff events (out of 12 total).

• In the eight years THE TOUR Championship has been played at East Lake, no player has shot over par in the final round and gone on to win. The highest final round by a winner was an even-par 70 by Hal Sutton in 1998.

• The third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 22 of 40 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR in 2009, most recently Tiger Woods at the BMW Championship. In the 23-year history of THE TOUR Championship, the third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win the tournament 14 times, with the last to do so being Woods in 2007.

• The largest come-from-behind victory at the event was five strokes by Camilo Villegas in 2008. Mickelson (2009) and Retief Goosen (2004) are second on the list with four-shot comeback victories.

• Ten players made their TOUR Championship debuts this week: John Senden (T10), Angel Cabrera (T13), Nick Watney (T13), Y.E. Yang (T18), Jason Dufner (T19), Steve Marino (24), Dustin Johnson (27), Brian Gay (T28), Marc Leishman (T28) and Kevin Na (30).

• Ernie Els nearly recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3 sixth on Sunday. With two separate tee locations, the hole can play anywhere from 160-220 yards or more. With the tees set at their furthest location, the hole played at 225 yards on Sunday. Els' tee shot hit the flagstick and stopped less than a foot from the hole. He went on to shoot a 1-over 71 and finish ninth.