The PGA Tour has spent a lot of time and effort trying to improve its product, and that apparently could include a major tweak to the season-ending Tour Championship, taking it on the road for the first time in two decades.
Golfweek’s Adam Schupak reported the Tour is considering moving the FedEx Cup playoffs finale, the Tour Championship, out of Atlanta at some point in the future. East Lake Golf Club has hosted the Tour Championship for the last 22 years, and the prestigious Atlanta club also hosted the finale three other times before taking on full-time status.
Tour Championship Could Move From East Lake?
Schupak’s report doesn’t indicate any sort of imminent change, but PGA Tour veteran Adam Scott, who is also on the Tour’s policy board, said a move has been “discussed,” adding “We’ve questioned everything at some point.”
However, Schupak also noted that the process has been a “slog” to this point, while also citing a source who said former PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem granted East Lake the spot “in perpetuity.” It’s obviously unclear what exactly that means and how solid such a promise is.
The bigger issue might be getting sponsors on board, as Schupak also notes. Coca Cola is a presenting sponsor, and the biggest name in soda is rooted in Atlanta.
What About East Lake?
Longtime agreements, sponsor obligations and media considerations might not be the only obstacles in the way of moving the Tour Championship. East Lake itself recently underwent a major renovation, largely geared toward a more challenging — and interesting — test for the world’s best players.
“The new East Lake is a significant improvement over the previous version, with much more intrigue on and around the greens,” The Fried Egg’s Joseph LaMagna wrote ahead of the 2024 Tour Championship. “While it’s still debatable whether East Lake is a great golf course, it is clearly much better now than it was a year ago.
“… Green’s renovations are overall delightful. Much like the renovated Colonial that was unveiled earlier this year, the new greens at East Lake played perhaps firmer than ideal. … As the greens mature, the golf course will continue to improve. Overall, the restoration deserves high marks!”
The pros approved, too.
“I love the restoration,” Rory McIlroy said in 2024, per Golfweek. “I love the golf course. It’s probably six months away from being perfect just because of the firmness of the greens.”
If Not East Lake, Where?
For as good as East Lake might be — and potentially getting better — Tour policy board player director Peter Malnati admitted to Schupak that he doesn’t “hear fans say it’s an exciting golf course to watch.”
However, if the Tour (and more importantly, SSG and its $1.5 billion in backing) want something more exciting, moving it makes sense. It’s a little strange for two of the Tour’s playoff events to take place in Memphis and Atlanta in August. That would seem like an ideal time on the calendar to bring the Tour back to the northeast for a New York or New England stop, to the Midwest (Chicago is an obvious contender) or out to the West Coast.
“No one is tuning in to see East Lake the way they would if the 30-man finale was held at Cypress Point or Pine Valley or Pinehurst (though a 30-man field may be a tough sell for a resort course),” Schupak argued.
He’s not wrong. Crowning a champion at Cypress Point in primetime would generate far more juice than a 30-man slog to the finish at swampy East Lake. But that’s easier said than done, it seems.
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