The format at the Tour Championship is the most dramatic change to this year’s finale, but it will not be the only new look at East Lake.
After a one-year experiment playing East Lake’s 14th hole as a par 5, officials will play the hole as a par 4 for this month’s championship, according to the GreenSheet, which was sent to players this week.
Last year, No. 14, at 580 yards on the card, played as the easiest hole for the week with a 4.333 scoring average. For this year’s Tour Championship, the hole will play 50 yards shorter (530 yards), similar to how it played in 2023 as a par 4.
East Lake had played as a par 70 since it first hosted the Tour Championship in 1998, but it has expanded its footprint dramatically over the decades, including a significant restoration completed last year by Andrew Green. When Hal Sutton won the event in 1998, it played to 6,980 yards. For this year’s event, the total yardage will be 7,440 yards.
The PGA Tour policy board dumped the starting-strokes format at the Tour Championship, which gave the playoff points leader an incremental advantage to start the week. It returned to a traditional, 72-hole, stroke-play format to decide the FedExCup winner.
