A Picture Can Speak a Thousand Words

The proverbial "they" say a picture can speak a thousand words.

I had heard the phrase before but never paid much attention to it until yesterday evening, when I saw the picture of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson standing side-by-side on the 18th green at East Lake Golf Club.

The two greatest golfers of this generation each holding seperate trophies while standing side-by-side on the 18th green—I wonder who the big winner was?

Well, who do you think?

This one single photo accurately captured the careers of these two golfing heavyweights.

Mickelson posted a bogey-free round of 65 and won the Tour Championship going away, yet Woods still managed to walk away as the big winner.

Woods was given the larger, sleeker trophy and will see an additional $10 million on his next bank statement for winning the FedEx Cup.  Mickelson, on the other hand, was left standing with an inferior trophy and will receive just $1.35 million for winning the Tour Championship (plus the additional $3 million he earned for finishing second in the final FedEx Cup point standings).

Woods sported his billion dollar smile (literally) while Mickelson had that ever-present awe, shucks look on his face.

The Nike swoosh seen on Woods' trademark Sunday red shirt has earned him significantly more money over the years than Mickelson’s KPMG, Barclays and Callaway gear.  

By now, it’s well-known that despite being one of twenty greatest golfers of all time, Mickelson has had to take a back seat to Woods for the past 13 years, and yesterday was no different.  

Not only did this photo sum up the Woods/Mickelson rivalry, but it also exposed the one major flaw still present in the FedEx Cup playoff system.

How can a player win the Tour Championship and not win the FedEx Cup title?

Is it possible for an NFL team to win the Super Bowl but not win the Lombardi Trophy?

"I like the way today went," Mickelson said sarcastically. "I was two back of him, I beat him by three. He gets the $10 million check, and I get $1 million. I've got no problem with that.”

Well Phil, as I’m sure you are painfully aware of, all is not fair in the Tiger Woods era and the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs.

But then again, considering Mickelson's wife and mother have both beaten cancer this summer, perhaps defeating Tiger Woods on the golf course isn’t quite as important as it used to be.

Could there be more important things in life than taking down Woods and winning the 2009 FedEx Cup?

I'm fairly certain that Mickelson's answer to that question would be a resounding 'yes', as it should be.