Brandt Snedeker / Getty ImagesLet's be honest, we're all incredibly busy. Nobody has time to sit down and watch four rounds of golf coverage -- unless, of course, you watch TV for a living, and if that's the case, please email us your number. So in an effort to condense the tournament coverage for you into a few quick hits, here are five things we learned from the Tour Championship.

Brandt Snedeker's putter the difference at East Lake — It doesn't matter how hot driver faces get from here on out, leading the field in putting for the week will always give you the best chance to take home the big check on Sunday afternoon. Case in point: Brandt Snedker, who was the hottest putter in the game coming into the Tour Championship. He once again proved that having the best flatstick at East Lake is the way to go if you have aspirations of winning the final event of the FedExCup. Snedeker led the field in strokes gained putting (1.676) for the week and finished inside the top-3 in putts per GIR (1.660) and putts per round 27.5; he also ended the regular season as the undisputed leader in strokes gained putting for 2012. Extra distance off the tee is nice, but when you're playing a course where three of the last four winners have led the field in putting for the week, you quickly distance doesn't matter. Snedeker can attest to that statement. He rode the hottest putter in golf to a career-defining victory ... and an $11.4 million payday. Say it with me, friends: drive for show, putt for dough.

[Related: FedEx Cup proves Tiger's closing act no longer an open-and-shut case]

Rory McIlroy comes up short in his FedExCup quest — One can look at Rory McIlroy's incredible FedExCup run in a number of different ways. On one hand, the four playoff events could be considered a complete success after McIlroy won two of the four events. On the other hand, he missed out on $10 million thanks to the FedExCup reset, and some clutch putting from Brandt Snedeker. McIlroy was complimentary of Snedeker's play on Sunday, crediting him for his win that sent him from fifth to first in the standings, but you can't help but feel a little bad for the 23-year-old, who played near-flawless golf for three tournament and still came up short in the finale. Blame it on the reset.

Tiger Woods leaves Tour Championship with some positives — Firing rounds of 66-73-67-72 and finishing T-8 -- eight shots back of Brandt Snedeker -- isn't anything to write home about, but following Sunday's final round of the Tour Championship, Tiger Woods said he felt good about one part of his game in particular going into the Ryder Cup.

"More than anything, I think this week my short game was really dialed in this week," Woods said. "I chipped and putted really well."

Considering Woods' short game has been his Achilles' heel for much of the year, it's difficult to believe him ... until you take a peek at his stats for the week. He finished fourth in the field in putts per GIR and putts per round, two numbers that would lead you to believe the putter is making a comeback ahead of the Ryder Cup.

Brandt Snedeker pulled off the Tour Championship-FedEx Cup double on Sunday. — Getty Images

Coming into the Tour Championship, Brandt Snedeker's 2012 had already been deemed a massive success. With a win early in the year at the Farmers Insurance Open, 6 top 10s, a spot on his first Ryder Cup team and over $3.5 million in season earnings in the bank, there wasn't a whole lot left on his yearly checklist ... except one thing.

That, of course, was winning the Tour Championship and the FedExCup at East Lake, an attainable feat so long as Snedker, who was fifth in the standings at the start of the tournament, found a way to pick up the biggest win of his career.

He managed to do just that on Sunday afternoon, capping off the round with a brilliant chip-in for birdie on the 17th hole to take a three-shot lead into the final hole. Despite hitting it into the grandstands on the par-3 18th, Snedeker was able to bogey the last and fire 2-under 68 -- he finished 10-under for the tournament -- good enough for a three-shot win over Justin Rose that not only earned him the Tour

Tiger Woods and Charles Barkley / Getty Images

Tiger Woods has never been a trash talker or a fan of confrontations off the course; he prefers to do his talking with his clubs, and over the years, Woods has, more often than not, silenced his critics and detractors with big wins and big shots.

There's nothing wrong with taking the high road in a particular situation, mind you. But the way former NBA star Charles Barkley sees it, Woods would've been better off handling the Norman situation -- Norman told FoxSports.com that Woods is really intimidated by Rory McIlroy -- with a couple choice comments for the two-time British Open winner. In other words: Barkley wanted Woods to blast Norman.

Speaking to "The Waddle & Silvy Show" during a recent radio interview, Barkley said he was "disappointed" with Woods' decision to pass on the opportunity to "go ballistic" on Norman.

"I would like him to just blast Greg Norman," Barkley said. "... I'm not a high-road guy. I wanted him to come out and really blast Greg Norman and say 'Dude, what the

Going into Thursday night's game against Boerne Champion (Texas) High, Marble Falls (Texas) High quarterback Mike Richardson had passed for 760 yards and 13 touchdowns in his first three games -- an impressive start to the season for any signal-caller ... until you realize Richardson nearly matched his passing total in one game.

Marble Fallas (Texas) High's Mike Richardson. — Hudl.com

In a regular Texas shootout, Richardson broke the Texas state record for passing yards in a single game -- set just last season by Wichita Falls (Texas) High QB Dylan Sheffield who passed for 683 yards -- with a 715-yard, seven-touchdown performance in a 62-55 win over Boerne Champion.

The 715 yards has yet to be confirmed by both coaches -- Marble Falls head coach Todd Dodge told the Statesman that he had Richardson for 722 yards -- so the number may change in the coming days. But for the moment, Richardson's 715 yards is the second most in high school football history behind David Koral's 764 yards for Pacific Palisades (Calif.) High in 2000.

"I didn't really think about the yards and completions," Richardson told the Express-News. "I just played the game."

Instead of enjoying the record, Richardson and Marble Falls had to play until the whistle -- and still only ended up winning by a touchdown. According to the San Antonio Express-News and the Austin American-Statesman, both teams combined for 1,310 passing yards, which is currently an unofficial state record.

To give you an idea of how prolific Marble Falls was on offense, the Express-News noted the team had six touchdown drives that took less than six plays, and that reciever Garrett Gray ended the game with an eye-popping stat line: 13 receptions for 294 yards and five TDs.

Boerne Champion quarterback Kyle Poeske may have been overshadowed by Richardson, but he produced a memorable performance in defeat, passing for 595 yards, which currently has him tied for fourth all time in the state record books.

Rory's house is on the market for $3.24 million. That's chump change, friends. — IrishTimes.com

Let's be honest: you'll never have a golf game anywhere close to as good as Rory McIlroy's. But if you have $3.24 million sitting around collecting dust, you can at least live like the top-ranked golfer in the world.

According to the Irish Times, McIlroy is putting Robinhall House, his swanky digs located in Moneyreagh, Northern Ireland, on the market just three years after he purchased the property. The 14-acre estate includes a 6,000-square-foot home -- dubbed a "bachelor pad" by the site -- a pond ... and a golf practice area with four greens and a driving range.

Nice rug, Rory. — IrishTimes.com

You know, the usual stuff you'd find at the home of the best golfer on the planet. If McIlroy's practice facility sounds familiar, that's because Devil Ball highlighted it back in July of last year. The short game area has a replica of the Road Hole on the 17th green on the Old Course at St. Andrews, and comes with a full-time greenskeeper who looks after the facility. In other words, the 23-year-old's home is every golfer's dream.

Justin Rose needs a lot of help this week to win the FedExCup, but if he keeps dropping birdie bombs from Macon, Georgia, he may find himself in a position to win the Tour Championship come Sunday afternoon.

Despite getting off to a less-than-stellar start -- two bogeys in his first seven holes -- Rose figured out the greens over his last 11 holes, carding 5 birdies to grab a share of the lead with Tiger Woods at 4-under after the first round.

While Rose had a number of highlights during his round, there's no question his 52-foot birdie putt on the 18th topped the list. Not only did it give Rose a share of the lead and a spot in the final group on Friday with Tiger Woods, it was, according to Justin Ray, also the longest putt he's made all year on the PGA Tour. Needless to say, Rose couldn't have picked a better time to make a lengthy birdie putt.

Rory McIlroy / Getty Images

We're running down the players with a chance at the FedExCup, and here we are: the fabled top five. These guys control their destiny; if they win the Tour Championship, they win the FedExCup, no matter what anybody else does. We finish with the one guy who controls his own destiny at East Lake.

Every player in the field at East Lake needs a little bit of luck to win the Tour Championship -- except one guy. That'd be Rory McIlroy, who comes into the final event of the FedExCup off back-to-back wins at the Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship.

If not for the dreaded reset following the BMW, McIlroy would have a nearly insurmountable lead this week. Instead, he's only 250 points ahead of Tiger Woods, making him a marked man capable of losing the title, and the $10 million, if he falters at East Lake.

[Showdown with Rory McIlroy will reveal what Tiger Woods is made of]

But honestly, does anyone see McIlroy making a mistake? He's been nearly unstoppable since the eight-shot win

Phil Mickelson / Getty Images

So in an attempt to inject a bit more life and interest into tournaments, and because we're all inveterate gamblers who are one bad card from being out on the streets, Jay Busbee and I are playing a golf version of a football suicide pool: We each pick one golfer per tournament and see how they do against each other, straight up. Victory over the other guy gets one point, victory in the tournament gets three points, and a tie lands you half a point. (Double for the majors.) We turn our attention to the Tour Championship.

Wall: Jason Dufner is my guy. He skipped the Barclays and hasn't done anything over the last two playoff events that would lead you to believe he'd be a factor at the Tour Championship, but on a course where ball striking and hitting fairways and greens is paramount, I think Dufner has all the tools to thrive this week. He's currently 16th in fairways hit and fourth in GIR, and if he shows up with some semblance of a short game, I think he'll be right there on Sunday.

Busbee: Phil Mickelson is my guy, mainly because he's the only one of the top five I haven't yet picked. Well, that and he's playing pretty well these days, too. He's got a win at East Lake from a couple years back, and I know he could use an extra $10 mil (or maybe not), but either way he's on a minor roll that should be enough to keep him in the mix through at least Saturday.

Last week: Showdown just got really interesting! Wall picks up his fourth straight win thanks to Dustin Johnson's T-6 at the BMW Championship and just like that, he has a one point lead after trailing for most of the summer. Louis Ossthuizen started strong over the first three days to give Busbee a glimmer of hope, but a 73 on Sunday stretched the losing skid to four straight. Like Tiger Woods on the weekend, Busbee seems to be fading at the worst possible time.

Current score: Wall - 13.0, Busbee - 12.0.