Scottie Scheffler can do it all. He’s dismantling any argument you could possibly throw against him, and his win at Caves Valley only reinforced that. Even with the victory, you have to upgrade this performance on course fit—it wasn’t just dominance, it was dominance on a track that required the full arsenal.
I got a lot wrong last week. Xander was awful. Gotterup was awful. Sam Burns played well, and the winning score came in well under expectation. That was a pleasant surprise, as Caves Valley showed some teeth with its ability to play fast and firm, with undulating greens that demanded precision.
The one victory lap I’ll take is the driver–putter narrative. The course rewarded players who could hit it long and roll putts. You saw that reflected in guys like Bobby Mac, Sam Burns, and Maverick McNealy rising up the board. If I had been a touch sharper, I probably could’ve landed on the other two as well.
But the story begins and ends with Scottie. He was far and away the best player on a course where you simply needed to hit it far and make putts. That combination carried him once again.
Now the field is trimmed to 30, and we move on to East Lake for the Tour Championship. This is a course we know plenty about, even with the recent renovations, and it will provide a very different test to close out the season.
📍 East Lake Golf Club – Course Details
• Location: Atlanta, Georgia
• Architect: Originally Tom Bendelow (1904), redesigned by Donald Ross (1913). Most recent renovation/restoration by Andrew Green (2023–2024).
• Par: 71
• Yardage: ~7,455 yards
Surface:
Greens: TifEagle Bermuda
Fairways: Zorro Zoysia
Rough: Bermuda
Notable Renovation Features (2023–2024):
Restored Donald Ross features from 1949 aerial imagery
14th hole converted back to a downhill par-5 (previously par-4)
17th hole restored split fairway with trench bunker
9th green lowered and shifted left, bringing water into play
Expanded runoffs and sharper-edged bunkers◦
Tree removal for wider sightlines and improved turf health
New irrigation + ~110 acres of new sod
Tour Championship – Format & Course Preview
This year, the Tour Championship shifts away from starting strokes and back to pure stroke play. Certainly not the most fair way to crown a season-long champion, but it will make things much more interesting. Had Scottie Scheffler begun at -10 like in years past, it’s hard to imagine anyone catching him in his current form. With $25 million on the line, you can’t help but feel for Scottie—despite a year of dominance, he won’t have the cushion he’s earned. All 30 players start at even par, and in this setup, ratings and viewership clearly prevailed over competitive equity.
As always, the finale returns to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, a venue we’ve seen plenty of over the years. But this isn’t the same East Lake we were used to. The recent Andrew Green restoration brought the course back toward Donald Ross’s original intent. I really like this golf course—it has character, demands precision, and now punishes mistakes in a way that feels fitting for a season-ending championship.
The agronomy is classic Atlanta: zoysia fairways, bermuda rough, and TifEagle bermuda greens. Last year’s debut of the renovation showed just how penal the bermuda rough can be. Missed fairways carried a significant penalty: you can’t spin the ball out of it, distance control is unpredictable, and lies can vary wildly—sometimes jumping, sometimes coming out dead. Combine that with small, undulating greens, and you get a course that demands discipline.
East Lake will play as a par 71 at ~7,455 yards this week. I’ll be looking for players with great total driving ability—ideally above average in distance but significantly above average in accuracy. Iron play, especially with mid-irons, will be critical. Around the greens, I don’t necessarily need elite scrambling, but I do want players comfortable on bermuda. And finally, putting—particularly lag putting on undulating surfaces—will be a separator.
For comp courses, I’ll be drawing on tracks with similar style and agronomy: Harbour Town, TPC Sawgrass, TPC Scottsdale, Innisbrook Copperhead, and Sedgefield. Each of these asks for precision off the tee, rewards great iron play, and punishes misses in ways similar to East Lake.
Your Winner (Not Named Scottie Scheffler): Russell Henley
I’m going back to the well here with Russell Henley, and I’d love to see him cap off his year with a strong finish. He’s been consistent all season, quietly piling up quality results. His one limitation—lack of elite distance off the tee—doesn’t concern me as much at East Lake.
What Henley does bring is exactly what this course demands: elite driving accuracy, world-class iron play, a sharp short game, and reliable putting. Add in the fact that he’s a Georgia Bulldog, perfectly comfortable in this part of the country, and the fit looks even stronger.
Henley has played well here before and showed plenty of game last year. I think he has the tools to win this golf tournament. Okay—maybe he doesn’t take down Scheffler, but I fully expect him to be in the mix deep into Sunday.
Good luck!