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By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

ATLANTA -- Maybe Zach Johnson had the best description.

"The man is a freak of nature," the reigning Masters champion said. "I mean, he's a normal person but he's sooo not normal."

Woods has shot 67 or better in 11 straight rounds. (WireImage)

Tiger Woods did it again on Sunday, too. He made something out of the ordinary seem completely natural as he won THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola -- and with that, the inaugural FedExCup and its $10 million bonus.

Woods was nothing short of magnificent on Sunday, closing with a 66 to finish at 23 under and beat Johnson and Mark Calcavecchia by a whopping eight strokes. He earned $1.26 million, bringing his total for the year to $10,867,052 and marking the second time in three years that he's hit eight figures.

The victory was clearly his goal, though, and Woods is accumulating PGA TOUR titles at an alarming rate. He's now got 61, one shy of Arnold Palmer all-time, and has won seven in a single season for the second straight year.

"You play, and when you play, you play to win, period," Woods said. "That's how my dad raised me. If you win, everything will take care of itself. You take great pride in what you do on the golf course, and when you're able to win events, that's when you can go home and be very proud of what you've done."

And Woods' performance in the final three events in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup was even more impressive that his work at East Lake. In 12 rounds, Woods shot 75 under, which was a scoring average of 65.75.

He has now won four of his last five starts, including the last two, and he tied for second in the one where he didn't get the trophy. He shattered the tournament record at East Lake and posted the third-best 72-hole total of all-time.

"He never ceases to amaze me -- I'll put it that way," Johnson said of the soon-to-be-voted 2007 PGA TOUR Player of the Year. "He's hard to describe."

Asked whether he had reached his prime, the 31-year-old Woods simply flashed that brilliant smile of his. "I don't think so," he said simply and stopped, then finally filled the void in the conversation as the reporters hung on his every word.

"Well, I don't know when it's going to be," he said, shrugging his shoulders as everyone laughed. "What do you want me to tell you, it's like January 5th of such and such a year? I mean, you don't know. The whole idea is to try and keep improving.

"When all is said and done, when you rack the cue and go home and retire, you can honestly say these were my best years, when I was at my peak. But when you're in it, you're always trying to improve that a little bit to get to the next level."

Woods' paychecks total $10,867,052 in 2007 -- not counting his $10 million for winning the FedExCup. (WireImage)

Johnson, who beat Woods, Retief Goosen and Rory Sabbatini by two strokes at Augusta National in April, says he's "very, very proud of," of winning a major in the Woods era. Every victory by the game's No. 1 player sets a standard to which the rest of the TOUR players aspire, he explained.

"I mean, I get sick of this game as much as the next guy, but it is my job and I still want to continue to improve," Johnson said. "He's kind of set a bar and it continues to obviously go up. There's not a ceiling, put it that way.

"I admire the guy, there's no question about that. Anybody that says they don't has got to be pretty foolish."

And for the second time since winning his 13th major at the PGA Championship last month, Woods said Sunday night that his career has exceeded his expectations -- at this point, that is.

"I think that if you have gone through your 20s with just a few majors, it would be a huge success," he said. "Most golfers reach their prime in their 30s. Hopefully you can carry that momentum from your 30s into your 40s, especially now that guys are working out and their longevity and their standard of play is longer than it used to be.

"I didn't see winning this many times in my 20s and now in my 30s. I never would have foreseen that."

After he plays in The Presidents Cup, Woods is looking forward to an extended break. He wants to spend time with his wife, Elin, and their 2-month-old daughter Sam. He'll go skin diving, too -- but when the time comes to compete again, Woods will be ready.

"I think once you experience it, you want to have it again," he said. "It's like winning a major championship. It feels so good, you want to get another one. And plus, once you do, you understand how to do it. I think that's probably the most important thing, is that you understand how to do it. To win Player of the Year, how do you that? Well, it's about consistency.

"I remember coming here in '98, I had a chance to win the scoring title and Nick Price birdied a couple holes on the back nine to edge me out for the scoring title. Well, you learn from that. It's about playing well all year.

"You can't have a bad round or bad couple rounds or bad tournaments to win the scoring title. You live and learn from those experiences."

And Woods learns those lessons better than most.