PGA Results: 2012 TOUR Championship

PGA Tour The race to the FedEx Cup is over and the $10 million prize has been awarded.  Unfortunately this frog didn't win it.  There's always next year... The TOUR Championship was contested this week at East Lake in Atlanta.  The TOUR Championship features the final top 30 in FedEx Cup points not only competing for the $1.44 million first prize, but the bonus $10 million for winning the FedEx Cup.  As was the case this year with TOUR Championship winner Brandt Snedeker, a player can win both.  With this week's victory, "Sneds" cashes in two checks totaling $11.44 million.  This was a big weekend for his caddy as well.  Most caddies are on a scale to receive 10% of the winnings, or a cool $1.1 million. Rory McIlory came into the TOUR Championship with the FedEx Cup points lead, Tiger Woods hot on his tail in 2nd place.  But a not-so-stellar weekend for both players left them in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.  In fact, the top five coming into the week stayed in the top five, finishing in a different order with Snedeker on top. Two players who jumped up from the lower ranks and had a good shot at winning were Justin Rose and Ryan Moore.  Rose's great performance over the first three days put him into the final group with Snedeker.  Rose jumped up from 24th to 6th while Moore jumped from 28th to 11th in FedEx Cup points. Typically the world's big name players would take a break after the FedEx Cup.  Many players take a break until the next season starts.  But this year is a Ryder Cup year so we will be seeing most of the top players in competition once again this week in Chicago at Medinah. LPGA Tour The ladies were in Prattville, Alabama on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, contesting the Navistar LPGA Classic.  Returning champion Lexi Thompson, who had become the youngest player to win in LPGA history at the 2011 Navistar, started out hot once again, looking to successfully defend her championship. A strong finish from Stacy Lewis on Sunday however, put her two shots ahead of Lexi Thomposon.  This win marked Lewis's 2nd win in Alabama this year, coining the phrase "Alabama Slam." The ladies will be off until October 11-14 when they contest the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia Champoinshiop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.