Sep 23, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Brandt Snedeker (USA) celebrates winning both the TOUR Championship and the FedEx Cup at East Lake Golf Club. (Kevin Liles-US PRESSWIRE)

If you look over his stats for the week, Sneds was simply astounding with the putter. In comparison to the rest of the 30-man field, the native of Nashville was in the top three in the most important putting stats. On “Moving Day”, Snedeker gained 3.169 strokes. For his final round, that was 1.962. And for the weekend, that total number was 1.676. His three-stroke win over Justin Rose can be largely attributed to the flat stick.

Take a look at his putts per round and putts per GIR:

Thursday – PPR: 27, PPGIR: 1.667
Friday – PPR: 29, PPGIR: 1.667
Saturday – PPR: 29, PPGIR: 1.647
Sunday – PPR: 25, PPGIR: 1.667

Wasn’t only his putter though. Snedeker’s accuracy of the tee was second for the tournament with a 66.1% accuracy. He was perfect in sand saves. And, maybe the most important stats of the weekend, Snedeker had the least number of bogeys with 6 and most birdies with 20. He also only had a pair of double bogeys.

Of course, the points system is probably taking a beating today considering Rory McIlroy won two of the four tournaments that comprise the FedEx Cup Playoffs and did not figure into the crowning of a new champ. Rors was coming off perhaps his greatest stretch of his young career as he won the last major (PGA Championship) and nailed down two wins in the playoffs (Deutsche Bank and BMW).

McIlroy had a T24, 1st, 1st and T10 for the four tournaments that comprise the playoffs. An average finish well above that of Snedeker, yet he takes home the second place prize of a mere $3 million.

Hard to fathom that a guy can win half of the tournaments involved in the playoffs would have to settle for second.

Ponder this. It’s not like Snedeker barely made the TOUR Championship. Top five, maybe, but he earned his spot. It’s not completely related to his own performance. The other players created part of this as well. Their performance throughout these playoff had an effect.

Coming into East Lake, he was fifth in the FedEx Cup points standings, the last spot where you held your own destiny. He solidified his position by placing second at The Barclays, followed by a sixth at the Deutsch Bank. Snedeker’s worst finish of The Playoffs came at BMW where he could only muster a T37. Still, he was in position to claim the title.

Snedeker did just that.

Now on to Medinah and the Ryder Cup.

Sep 21, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Jim Furyk (USA) tees off on the 16th hole during the second round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-US PRESSWIRE

He stumbled a little on the back nine with three bogeys, and had his score to 8 under par before a bogey at the thirteenth hole. He would make two more bogeys and two birdies and get to the club house with a 64 at 7 under par for the championship.The key to Furyck’s success on the front nine were his laser guided iron shots, leaving very make-able putts while most of the field were struggling to make pars.

The greens at East Lake are in great shape and are quite fast , running around 12 on the StimpMeter. Most of the players are giving the downhill, breaking putts a ton of respect, causing many to come up short. Those who got aggressive were running putts 5- 8 past the cup, leaving knee-knockers coming back for their pars.

While Jim Furyck was making his charge up the leaderboard, others, including Tiger Woods found themselves going the other direction. Woods teed off in the final pairing on Friday with Justin Rose, and wasted no time giving back strokes right from the first hole. He got a couple of birdies at 3 and 7, getting it to 5 under. Then his swing seemed to go South with a double bogey at 8. Four bogies on the back would net a 3 one 73 on the day, dropping him to one over par.

Tiger’s playing partner, Justin Rose held it together and shot a 2 under 68 on the day leaving him alone in second place at 6 under par. Other players under par who made a move up the leaderboard were Bo Van Pelt, Dustin Johnson, and Zack Johnson. Zack plays that baby draw all the time, and this golf course set up nicely for him. Rory McIlroy improved to 68 and got to within four strokes at 3 under par.

Some of those who took a tour the wrong direction on Friday were Ernie Els, Nick Watney, and Sergio Garcia. Watney and Els looked totally out of sorts, and Sergio couldn’t get a putt to drop. Els shot a 75 for the high score on the day, and finished at 7 over par and pretty much out of the tournament. Phil Mickleson struggled all day with hitting fairways and nothing happening when he finally got to the greens. Phil looks like a person who is tired, and needs a break.

Last in the field to start at number 30, Scott Piercy had a set back on Friday, following his brilliant 67 from Thursday with a 73, setting him back to even par.

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