Phil Mickelson came from four shots back to win the Tour Championship in Georgia but Tiger Woods was the biggest winner as he took a $10 million bonus as the season-long FedEx Cup champion.

Mickelson began the day at four under par, four behind overnight leader Kenny Perry and two behind world number one Woods but eclipsed both men with a five-under-par round of 65 at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club to claim the $1.35m first prize.

Woods shot a level-par 70 to claim second place as Perry fell away with a 74 and his runner-up finish was good enough to maintain his lead in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of a PGA Tour season which saw him win six times having returned to the game in February after eight months out following reconstructive knee surgery.

Sean O'Hair was third at five under with Perry sharing fourth place with Padraig Harrington, the Irishman securing his sixth consecutive top-10 finish after a miserable first seven months of the season.

American veteran Perry, 49, had begun the day with a two-stroke cushion over Woods yet could not get the job done despite his playing partner having hit trouble first.

Woods, who teed off knowing victory would guarantee him the bonus, found left-side trees off the first tee with a three-wood, his ball settling behind a tree, forcing him to play out sideways on the way to an opening bogey, immediately handing Perry a three-shot lead.

Perry missed his birdie putt but gave himself a four-shot cushion with a birdie at the second, only to give a shot back at the third after he overshot the green with his approach shot which plugged on a downhill lie in a bunker.

The Kentuckian also bogeyed the fifth as world number three Mickelson moved into contention, narrowing Perry's lead to one shot with birdies at the third and fourth holes to get to six under par.

Mickelson, needing a scenario which involved Woods finishing in a tie for eighth or worse to land the $10m bonus, pulled level with Perry at the eighth after he dialled in his approach shot from 123 yards out to inside two feet for birdie.

Mickelson, using a new putting stroke with a wide stance, was also putting superbly and he rolled in his 19th birdie of the week at the par-five ninth with his seventh one-putt in a row, downhill from 12 feet to take the outright lead at eight under par.

Woods, at five under par, and in a tie for third with Sean O'Hair, after nine holes, and Steve Marino, after 10, was still in control of his FedEx Cup lead.

The world number one parred his way through the rest of the front nine knowing Mickelson's surge was helping him also in keeping Perry at bay.

He was not without chance of his own, though and Woods missed a birdie opportunity at the par-five ninth from inside 16 feet to complete a birdie-free front nine.

Perry gave Woods cheer at the same hole, though, missing an 11-foot par putt to take a six and fall to six under, two behind Mickelson.

Harrington, sixth in the FedEx Cup standings, had also started the day at three under, five off the pace, but fell away with back-to-back bogeys at the fifth and sixth, only to rally with birdies at the seventh, 11th, 14th and 15th to put him right back in the hunt at five under, only to undo his bid with a closing bogey.

Mickelson, meanwhile, was moving closer to victory and it was all but secured when he chipped in for a birdie at the 16th to go to nine under.

Woods still had work to do though, and he fell to four under with a bogey at the par-four 13th where Perry imploded with a double bogey.

World number two Stricker, also second in the standings, was breathing down Woods' neck in the FedEx Cup race having got to four under with a birdie but his challenge disappeared with bogeys at the 16th and 17th.

Now it was all down to Woods and birdies at 15 and 16 moved him clear into second.

Luke Donald finished his Tour Championship on a high with his first under-par round of the week, a 69 to finish at eight over par.

Collated final round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, East Lake GC, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 70):

271 Phil Mickelson 73 67 66 65

274 Tiger Woods 67 68 69 70

275 Sean O'Hair 66 70 70 69

276 Kenny Perry 72 66 64 74, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 67 69 71 69

277 Steve Stricker 70 72 66 69

278 Steve Marino 69 71 67 71, Jim Furyk 72 68 71 67

279 Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 66 71 71

280 Jerry Kelly 71 67 71 71, John Senden (Aus) 70 70 69 71, Lucas Glover 68 71 72 69

281 Nick Watney 70 69 71 71, David Toms 74 66 70 71, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 72 67 70 72

282 Zach Johnson 70 72 73 67, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 75 73 64 70

283 Y.E. Yang (Kor) 71 75 66 71

284 Jason Dufner 71 68 73 72, Stewart Cink 67 72 70 75, Heath Slocum 73 68 71 72

285 Scott Verplank 70 71 74 70

286 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69 72 72 73

287 Hunter Mahan 71 73 72 71

288 Mike Weir (Can) 72 72 70 74, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 71 78 69

289 Dustin Johnson 69 74 73 73

292 Marc Leishman (Aus) 70 74 70 78, Brian Gay 72 72 76 72

293 Kevin Na 73 70 75 75