Phil Mickelson made the point today that one of the best parts of The Barclays and the FedEx Cup playoffs is the grouping of players according to points. He played the first two days with Singh and Jim Furyk, as the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 players in the field in points. Then Nos. 4, 5 and 6 played togehter, and so on.

So next week we can expect to see Tiger, Mickelson and Singh as a threesome for two days. Wow! Maybe these playoffs aren’t so dumb afterall.

So FedEx, et al, must be commended at least for bringing the quality and depth of the field to Westchester Country Club. Everybody but you-know-who was here, and it seemed like a Who’s Who Else on the leaderboard on the back nine of the final round.

The winner was probably the closest thing to a no-name up there. If you’ve been paying attention at all, though, you know that Steve Stricker is no no-name, that his six-year drought was on the verge of ending for a good chunk of the season, that lately he’s been about as good as anybody but you-know-who.

So after balling his eyes out like Mark Messier or Dick Vermeil, Stricker picked up the $1.26 million winner’s check AND the 9,000 FedEx points, which most of golf’s authorities would have you believe are worth more than the $1.26 million.

Stricker’s swollen red eyes and his repeatedly crackling voice tell a totally different story. In fact, the points came in third, the money second, and the trophy first. These Guys are Good, but these guys are also rich, and while nobody turns up a nose at $1.26 million, these guys care more about winning. About beating their peers in a four-day stress-test. About being able to handle all that winning demands, to short-memory the bogeys, to not sweat the bounces and the lip-outs, and to erase all other thoughts while focusing only on the next shot.

It takes a special mind-set to win.

You can’t do that while calculating points and standings.

So to the players here, especially to Stricker — who now leads the FedEx standings — this was a tournament first. Not a playoff.

CBS’s Peter Kostis honestly stepped over the company line in his greenside interview with Stricker, noting that he’s atop the FedEx standings, but “more importantly� he’s a tour winner again.

Rich Beem needed to do what he did to get into next week’s event. He moved to 113th? So he’s among the 120 going to Boston. I guarantee you, on the back nine and very much in contention, Beem wasn’t thinking playoffs.

“I wasn’t out there thinking about the FedEx Cup points,� Stricker said later. “I mean, obviously, winning the toutrnament is foremost. Everything that comes after that is icing on the cake.

“But, yeah, I’m in a good position now. There’s still a long way to go, and we all know who is coming back next week.�