Horses for Courses: Old contenders face new challenges at TOUR Championship

There have been plenty of horses for the East Lake Golf Club course over the decades it’s hosted the TOUR Championship, but a significant restoration now leaves some unknowns as 30 of the season’s best chase the FedExCup.

Noted golf architect Andrew Green completed his restoration project earlier this year, taking the course back to its Donald Ross roots from the late 1940s. The entire property has brand-new turf on the fairways, greens and rough. The fairways and greens, plus bunkering and water penalty areas that have evolved over the years, have been recontoured and redeveloped for a new challenge to conclude the Playoffs.

The 30 players who have qualified for East Lake after the BMW Championship last week will all have a chance to take home the biggest prize: $25 million and a five-year exemption on TOUR for the winner.

Viktor Hovland (+6600 net; +1600 gross) will attempt to be the first man to win the FedExCup in back-to-back seasons. Beginning eight shots off the Starting Strokes lead, the Norwegian will have to produce four rounds like his 2023 tournament to have a chance. Posting 19-under during the last event before the restoration, he cruised to a five-shot victory and the title in his fourth attempt at East Lake.

SG: Tee-to-Green

Players listed are in the field this week; 2024 season stats.

The restoration has converted the 14th hole into a par 5, and the track will now play as a par 71 at 7,491 yards. Gone are the days of the classical straight and narrow fairways and pinched, perched greens. The Bermuda rough still frames the shortest grasses, but the extra five acres of fairway and expanded green complexes will help aggressive ball striking. Navigating the receptiveness of the newly grassed greens will be a factor this week.

Regardless of the scoring system used, Rory McIlroy (+2000; +1100) is the only three-time winner at East Lake. The four-time major champion begins the week six shots off the pace, just like in 2022 when he posted 21-under to win for the third time. The Starting Strokes format began in 2019, and he turned a five-shot deficit before Round 1 started into a four-shot victory the first time the system was used. The 2016 edition provided an event champion and a FedExCup champion. Winning a playoff, he took home both titles. Regardless of format, from 10 starts at East Lake, he’s finished in the top 10 eight times, including six of his last seven visits.

Par-5 Scoring

Playing at 525 yards and 585 yards, the two original par 5s at East Lake do not provide much resistance in the heat and humidity of late summer. Playing over 4.5 strokes just once in the last six years, the duo was a welcome relief during the round. Hole 14 added 60 yards and will now be the third par-5 hole on the card and the second in the final five holes of the back nine. Now lengthened to 580 yards, it will add another chance to gain ground on the way home and run down the leaders.

Patrick Cantlay (+3300; +2000) is one of just two winners over the Starting Strokes era to finish the job as the top seed. The 2021 champion, fresh off a victory at the BMW Championship, did not finish in the top three players in the gross division yet still won the net by a shot. Looking for his first win since the 2022 BMW Championship, the Californian posted 12 consecutive rounds in the 70s and three consecutive results inside the top 10 over the last three editions.

Putting: Birdie or Better Conversion Percentage

TifEagle Bermuda is the new choice of grass on the putting surfaces. Standing up to the heat and humidity of the South, I would expect the Stimpmeter to increase next year after the plantings have settled in. The restoration provided new, unique slopes and additional square footage to accommodate new pin placements. In an event where 29 of the 30 players start at a deficit, navigating the new topography and converting well-executed chances will need to be expedited.

Oddsmaker’s extras

Xander Schauffele (+225; +450): The 2017 event champion won on debut and has added a trio T2 or better finishes in seven starts. Annually a contender for the low gross, the Californian equaled Hovland’s record of 19-under 261 last year but finished five shots adrift. In six of seven appearances, the two-time major champion of 2024 has been in the top four in gross total and has never posted a round above 70 in 28 rounds.

Justin Thomas (+30000; +2800): The winner of the FedExCup in 2017 returns to East Lake for the first time since the 2022 season. Posting 72-hole totals of 14-under, 11-under and 11-under suggests he can get as hot as the weather in late August in Georgia.

Scottie Scheffler (+120; +400): The man to beat at the BetMGM Sportsbook will begin Starting Strokes at 10-under, the best possible position, for the third consecutive season. The Texan debuted for the 2020 edition and posted his best score relative to par on 12-under. Signing for 10-under in 2022, he missed a playoff with McIlroy by a shot. In 2023, he posted 1-under (11-under net) and cashed T6.

Wyndham Clark (+4500; +2500): On debut last season, the first-time entrant for 2023 posted a gross total of 14-under across his first 72 holes on the East Lake layout. Only making two bogeys on the weekend, Hovland and Schauffele were the only players who went lower last year.

-Odds courtesy of BetMGM-

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