Along the way, he won seven of 16 events, including last month's PGA Championship -- his 13th major title -- and the season-ending Tour Championship yesterday in Atlanta. Being the first golfer to earn the silver FedEx Cup trophy and receive its $10 million annuity prize was just a bonus, he said.

"For me, I don't look at what the purse is or prize money," Woods said in a post-round press conference yesterday. "When you play, you play to win. That's the way I was raised."

When asked what mattered more to him, the Tour Championship or the FedEx Cup, Woods hardly hesitated. He declined to be the first to kiss the FedEx Cup trophy, though PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem urged him to do so before presenting him with it on East Lake Golf Club's 18th green.

"Winning the FedEx Cup is one thing, but I think as a player you always want to win the Tour Championship," said Woods, who finished at 23-under-par, eight shots ahead of Mark Calcavecchia and Zach Johnson. "There's history involved."