2024 Tour Championship: Top 5 power rankings at East Lake Golf Club

A century ago, the legendary Bobby Jones walked the grounds at his home course, East Lake Golf Club, perfecting his silky smooth golf swing that would win him seven Major Championships and five U.S. Amateurs.

This week, players will test their luck at the iconic Atlanta venue, as the PGA Tour ends its season in the Peach State.

Denver was the center of drama last week -- Keegan Bradley conquered the Mile High City with a career-defining win at Castle Pines. Oh captain, my captain, Bradley proved that the 2025 American Ryder Cup Captain has tons of gas left in the tank. His victory makes the 2025 captain picks all the more interesting: he could be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Bethpage Black could not come any sooner.

From Rory's collapse to Lydia Ko's heartwarming victory at St. Andrews, this year has produced many memorable golf moments. It would be fitting for the Tour Championship to add one more highlight to culminate a stunning season.

Only the top 30 in the FedEx Cup Standings will tee it up this week. Some notables that missed the cut line include Brian Harman, Jason Day, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Max Homa.

Scottie Scheffler recently voiced his concern about the current playoff format. As the Tour looks for innovative ways to generate excitement, Scheffler's comments, which included calling the format "silly", have to sound the alarms in Tour management circles.

Regardless, the World Number One will begin the week at ten under due to the staggered format. Xander Schauffele will start at eight under, Matsuyama at seven, Bradley at six, Aberg at five, and a slew of players at four under, headlined by Rory McIlroy.

With all the talk surrounding the current playoff format, it will be fascinating to see how the leaderboard plays out this week. Could we see a switch to match play in the near future?

East Lake, located five miles east of downtown Atlanta, has hosted the Tour Championship every year since 2005.

The Donald Ross design is known for its narrow fairways, undulating, Ross-style greens, and rolling terrain. At 7,490 yards and as a (now) par 71, the course is on the longer side of the Tour rotation.

But its reputation as a challenging final test has grown stale in recent years -- Viktor Hovland overpowered it with a score of -29 (-19 gross) in last year's event. Thus, East Lake, under the guidance of architect Andrew Green, underwent a series of renovations following the conclusion of the 2023 Tour Championship. Of those changes, the most notable was the switch from a par 70 to par 71. The famed architect also completely redesigned the green complexes while adding 150 yards and four bunkers.

Green and his team sought to recapture the elements of the original Ross design by using aerial photographs from the 1940s as a blueprint.

"It's just going to play completely different," reigning champion Viktor Hovland said in his press conference Tuesday. "I think it's definitely going to be harder."

The 2024 restoration should provide a sterner test, and hopefully, a better viewing experience for fans.

East Lake is often compared to PGA Tour staples Muirfield Village and Quail Hollow due to its demand from tee to green. The urban Atlanta track is a ball-striking course: there is nowhere to hide. That is why course history is such a strong indicator of success at East Lake; players cannot get by with anything but superb iron play. On a week-to-week basis, it can be tricky to predict who will get hot with the flatstick, but players who consistently putt well on Bermuda and Ross-style greens will have an advantage this week.

The two most significant criteria are strokes gained on approach shots and with the putter on fast Bermuda greens. Driving accuracy is superior to distance, as attacking the undulating greens from the fairway will be key. The challenging greens will require players to locate the correct levels of the putting surfaces.

2018's finale saw Tiger Woods make the first step in his famed "Return to Glory" with a two-stroke victory at East Lake. Although Woods' aura will be missing this week, there is sure to be an action-packed finish in Atlanta.