ATLANTA — Part of the changes the PGA Tour initiated at this Tour Championship — with most focused on the end of the starting-strokes era — was to make East Lake Golf Club a more demanding test.
Mother Nature had other plans.
“In response to data indicating fans want to see winning scores closer to par, the PGA Tour rules committee will adjust its course setup approach to encourage more risk/reward moments throughout each round, further heightening the drama and competition to determine the FedExCup champion,” this month’s Greensheet, which is sent directly to players, read.
The newsletter went on to explain that target green speeds at East Lake were 13 ½ on the Stimpmeter and the primary rough height would be 3 ½ inches, a half-inch more than in past years.
Daily thunderstorms and torrential rain have largely kept that toughening at bay with the field on pace to match last year’s winning total, sans starting strokes, which would have been 22 under by Collin Morikawa.
Preferred lies have been in place for all three rounds.
“Definitely a couple pins that were a little more towards corners. If you compare to last year, just with conditions right now, flags barely moving and it’s rained a lot over the last day, so things that you can’t control,” Morikawa said. “It’s just Mother Nature. When conditions are like that, we’re going to be firing at pins. That’s just the nature of what we do.
“Lift, clean and place, you’ve got a lot of wedges on this golf course. Can’t really do much to tuck them away because even if you do tuck them in corners, we’re firing away with a wedge.”
Last year, East Lake played to a 68.61 average as a par 71 compared to this year’s 67.87 average as a par 70.
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