We are long past the point of expecting Phil Mickelson to be an every-week rival to Tiger Woods. Nobody has been able to fill that role. Although Lefty comes closest, the game is always better when he is contending, especially winning, as he did Sunday at the Tour Championship.

It was Mickelson's first victory since capturing the WGC-CA Championship at Doral in March, a win that offered up lots of hope that the two would do battle over the course of the year. That was Mickelson's second win of the young season, and it was Woods' second tournament after returning from knee surgery.

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Despite three victories in 2009, Phil Mickelson has had quite the tumultuous season, especially considering both his wife and mother were diagnosed with breast cancer in the middle of the year.

Although Mickelson and Woods were paired together during the final round of the Masters and both made stirring runs at the lead, that was their most recent duel until Sunday. Woods went on to win a total of six times while Mickelson learned in May that his wife, Amy, had breast cancer, followed sooner after by the news that his mother, Mary, was diagnosed with the disease as well.

After taking some time off, Mickelson remarkably contended at the U.S. Open, finishing tied for second, 2 strokes behind Lucas Glover. If he had putted anything like he did at East Lake, Mickelson would have won easily.

But he didn't find the solution to his putting problems until recently, when he met with former PGA champion Dave Stockton and tweaked a few things in his setup and stroke. All of a sudden, Mickelson had a newfound confidence on the greens, and it showed in Atlanta, where he won for the 37th time in his career and moved back to No. 2 in the world.

And that brings us back to Tiger, who is still the overwhelming No. 1. Woods had the strange feeling of disappointment despite winning the FedEx Cup and taking home a $10 million bonus because he finished runner-up to Mickelson in the tournament -- the fifth time Tiger has finished second to Lefty.

It is not Woods' fault that no rival has truly emerged in his 13-year pro career. There have been rivals by committee, and, for the most part, Woods has handled them all, simply going about his business and not being concerned whether it is good for the game if he has a true No. 2.

But Woods did acknowledge that he wouldn't mind having Mickelson up there, playing his best.

"Why wouldn't you?" he said. "If you look at my career so far, I've had probably three main guys I've played against since the inception of my career -- Phil, Ernie [Els] and Vijay [Singh] -- where I've gone at it consistently throughout my 13 years out here. So, certainly, I would love to go at it again with him. We've had certain runs where we've battled a lot, and I think, with those three main guys, I've been consistent throughout my career. It's been a lot of fun. That's kind of been my generation of guys to deal with for over a decade."

Singh will be 47 next year, Els will turn 40 next month and Mickelson will be 40 in June. Els has won sporadically of late, but Mickelson -- when committed -- continues to show flashes of immense talent.

In the 12 events they have played together this year, Mickelson finished ahead of Woods five times, winning twice. The big difference, of course, is the level of consistency. In 17 tournaments, Woods had six wins, three second-place finishes and a total of 14 top-10s. He missed one cut. In Mickelson's 18 starts, he had three wins and six top-5s. But he also had four finishes worse than 50th and two missed cuts.

"My play has been like this for two years," said Mickelson, dismissing the idea that his wife's illness caused his game to suffer. "I'll have some good weeks where I'll putt well, and I've won a couple tournaments each year. But it hasn't been as consistently solid on the greens as I expect or as it has been in the past. So that's why I'm excited now is that I feel like I have the right direction to get that back."

And it should be pointed out that Mickeslon's success was not due only to putting. He's been saying for a long time that his ball-striking has been excellent, he's just been unable to consistently post good scores. At East Lake, Mickelson was tied for eighth in greens in regulation and then capitalized by being tied for second in putts per round.

"A lot is going to be said about Dave Stockton, but Butch Harmon was huge, too," said Jim Mackay, Mickelson's longtime caddie. "Phil hits it much, much better than he ever did. ... Butch has been a tremendous help."

It is too bad the season is all but over for both players. They will both compete for the American squad next week at the Presidents Cup, then both are scheduled to play the HSBC Champions event in China a month later, with Woods going on to Australia for another tournament. Mickelson also has committed to play in the Barclays Singapore Open the week prior to the tournament in China, a World Golf Championship (that doesn't count on the PGA Tour).

So we'll have to hold on until next year for something more meaningful, and Mickelson managed to make the wait a bit more bearable.

"We've been talking about next year," Harmon said. "We'd like to have a year of no problems. No injuries, no health problems, no personal problems, get through a whole year. Since we have been together [starting in the spring of 2007], we really haven't had that.

"Because I really think he is the only person who can challenge Tiger. He isn't afraid. He actually likes it. Tiger is remarkable, the greatest player ever. I'm not saying Phil is going to knock him off that perch. But he can challenge him."

The Fall Series

Now that the FedEx Cup playoffs are complete, those rank-and-file PGA Tour players who missed the playoffs can get back to the business of trying to secure a place to play in 2010 or other goals that got put on hold.

The Fall Series begins this week in upstate New York at the Turning Stone Resort Championship, the first of five events spread over seven weeks that will conclude in mid-November at the Children's Miracle Network Classic.

After this week's event, there is another off week (next week is the Presidents Cup) before the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, the Frys.com Open and the Viking Classic. Then comes a week off -- although the WGC-HSBC Champions will be played in China, the money does not count on the PGA Tour -- before the Children's Miracle Network tournament.

These five events will have purses ranging from $6 million at this week's event to $3.6 million for the Viking Classic.

The tournaments will be important for several reasons. The Masters, although it won't offer a spot for winners, still gives an invitation to those who finish among the 30 money winners. So does the U.S. Open. That means players such as Charles Howell (41st) and Davis Love (49th) have plenty to play for, even though they don't have to worry about having a place to play next year.

Ricky Barnes (114) and David Duval (116) tied for second at the U.S. Open, but have done little since. This is their opportunity to solidify their place among the top 125 and be fully exempt next year.

Players such as Stuart Appleby, Rocco Mediate and Chris DiMarco find themselves outside of the top 125.

A look at this week's venue

The Atunyote Golf Club in Verona, N.Y., is the venue for the Turning Stone Resort Championship, a third-year event that is kicking off the Fall Series again. The 7,482-yard, par-72 course was designed by Tom Fazio in 2004 and quickly gained acclaim when it hosted -- on short notice -- the now-defunct B.C. Open in 2006.

The course has wide fairways and large greens and is generally susceptible to low scoring, depending on weather conditions. Steve Flesch won the inaugural tournament in 2007, shooting 270, 18 under par. Last year, Dustin Johnson shot 279 in brisk weather that saw hail and thunderstorms halt second-round play and temperatures never climb out of the 50s on the weekend. Those weather conditions made Atunyote the ninth-toughest venue for scoring average last year.

The par-4 13th played as the most difficult in 2008, even though it is not a particularly long hole at 439 yards. It has played as the toughest in both tournament years. One of the easiest is the par-5 18th, a 624-yard 3-shot hole that leaves plenty of opportunities for birdies.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.