the tour championship east lake

Viktor Hovland stays hot, wins Tour Championship, FedEx Cup

• Senior college football writer
• Author of seven books on college football
• Graduate of the University of Georgia

ATLANTA -- When Oklahoma State golf coach Alan Bratton was recruiting Viktor Hovland in 2015, he remembers Hovland telling him that he couldn't wait to get to the United States and hit balls off grass.

"I remember thinking that was a phrase I'd never burped out of my mouth," Bratton said. "I couldn't relate to it."

Bratton didn't grow up trying to play an outdoor sport in Oslo, Norway.

The Scandinavian country known more for downhill skiing and snowboarding is now home to the hottest golfer on the planet after Hovland won the Tour Championship by 5 strokes over Xander Schauffele at East Lake Golf Club on Sunday. Hovland carded a 7-under 63 in the final round.

Hovland started the staggered-scoring event at 8 under and shot 19 under on his own to finish 27 under. He was 11 shots better than U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark , who finished third, and 13 better than Rory McIlroy , who was fourth.

It was Hovland's second straight victory after he captured the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, Illinois, last week. His latest victory came with the FedEx Cup and an $18 million bonus. Hovland, 24, earned $21.6 million over the past two weeks.

"It's been a great year," Hovland said. "I feel like I've taken a lot of steps this season, contending in more major championships. I finally won in the U.S. I won a big tournament, Jack [Nicklaus '] event. And honestly, after that, I felt like I've gotten so much better, and it was very pleasing to see. Obviously, the last couple weeks have just superseded that. It's been pretty surreal.

"Obviously, you dream about it, but these things happen when you don't really expect them."

Hovland joins the likes of past FedEx Cup champions McIlroy, Tiger Woods , Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson .

Hovland's path to East Lake Golf Club was one of the most unlikely. He didn't start playing golf until he was 11. His father, Harald, worked as an engineer for one year in St. Louis and brought his son home a set of clubs.

Hovland practiced at an indoor golf facility and played outdoors when there wasn't snow on the ground. There are about six to eight hours of daylight during the winter months, and Hovland passed time by watching instructional swing lessons on YouTube. The good news: There are about 18 to 19 hours of daylight during the height of the summer. Hovland didn't leave the golf course until after 10 p.m. on most summer days.

"I would take every single day very seriously because every day I had home in the summer I couldn't just waste away the day, because in a couple months, it's winter, and I can't play outside," Hovland said. "So every single day I tried to get its most out of, and I think that really helped me."

Bratton got his first look at Hovland while he was watching future Oklahoma State player Kristoffer Ventura competing in the European Boys' Team Championships in Scotland in 2013. Hovland was two years younger and wasn't one of Norway's best players.

Bratton saw enough talent in Hovland to offer him a scholarship in 2015, and Hovland signed with the Cowboys shortly after visiting campus. In 2018, Hovland helped the Cowboys win a team national championship. That summer, he won the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Hovland was the low amateur in the 2019 Masters then the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in his final tournament as an amateur. His 4-under total of 280 over 72 holes broke Nicklaus' U.S. Open scoring total for an amateur set at Cherry Hills in 1960.

Less than a year later, after earning his PGA Tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour, Hovland picked up his first victory at the 2020 Puerto Rico Open, making a 30-foot birdie on the final hole to win. He became the first player from Norway to win on the PGA Tour. Less than 10 months later, he made a 12-foot birdie to defeat Aaron Wise in the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Hovland's victory at Puerto Rico taught him something else about his game: He needed to develop a better short game.

"I suck at chipping," Hovland said at the time. "That's something I know I'm going to have to improve if I want to play my best at this level."

Since bursting on tour, Hovland has been regarded as one of the best ball strikers in the world.

"He's just so straight. He's just so accurate," England's Matt Fitzpatrick said. "Tee to green is phenomenal. Every time he hits a shot -- it just stupid as sounds -- the ball's always going forward. There's not really much shape on it. It's just always going forward, and I think that's impressive."

But what wasn't impressive until recently was Hovland's short game. During the 2020-21 season, he ranked in the top 10 on tour in strokes gained: tee to green, off the tee and total. He was 124th in strokes: gained around the green. Hovland was 191st in that statistic last season.

"His short game [trouble] was overblown," Bratton said. "When he was younger and during his time here, his short game wasn't awful. It wasn't his strength. It got exposed a little bit out there on the PGA Tour. He was never very good from the rough. Going against the best players in the world, you can't afford to have a weakness. When that's all anyone wants to talk about, then it can become something bigger than it needs to be."

To Hovland's credit, he devoted more time to chipping. He has been working with short-game specialist Joe Mayo. Hovland has been using the AimPoint putting technique to help him read greens better since 2020; developed by Mark Sweeney, it uses physics to help players read the slope of greens.

"He's been awesome," Hovland said of Mayo. "I like just picking people's brains, and he's an interesting brain to pick. He might be one of the only golf instructors that never watches golf. So when he came on board, he had no idea how I played, what I was doing, what it looked like. So he kind of had a fresh set of eyes. Yeah, he's just brought a lot of math and physics to my golf game, and we've just applied that, put a lot of hours in -- and funny enough, it works."

Hovland won twice more this season, at the Memorial in June when he beat Denny McCarthy in a playoff in a designated event then last week's playoff event. He also has won twice on the DP World Tour. Since 2020, only Jon Rahm has won more times combined on both tours with 10 victories.

At East Lake Golf Club, everything came together for Hovland. He led the field in strokes gained: off the tee (4.814), was fifth in approach (4.730), 11th around the green (1.103) and fourth in putting (3.387).

When did Hovland realize winning a Tour Championship might be possible?

"When I start to see the short game kind of come around and I believe I have all the shots," Hovland said. "I just saw the shots that I was able to pull off in tournaments and in highly stressful situations. I coupled that with the course management stuff and just the attitude, just handling bad bounces, handling bogeys, handling bad shots. Just those three aspects combined, when I started to see that, I wasn't stressed when I showed up to a golf tournament or a golf course. It was like, 'OK, whatever happens, happens. I might play bad, and that's OK.'

"Even today, it wasn't like, 'Man, I hope the double cross with the driver doesn't show up today. I hope I don't three-putt today. I hope I don't chunk the chips today.' You know, that might happen, but it's OK. I think just as soon as I made that mindset change, everything started to kind of come together."

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Golf With a Purpose

East Lake Golf Club

Located in Atlanta, Georgia, East Lake Golf Club is the oldest golf course in the city of Atlanta and where legendary golfer Bobby Jones learned the game. The Club is not only historic, but philanthropic as well. Proceeds from Club operations support several charitable partners, including the East Lake Foundation, which has helped transform one of the nation’s worst public housing projects into a thriving community. Since 2005, East Lake has been the permanent home of the TOUR Championship, the culminating event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedEx Cup.

A legendary golf course

Established in 1904, East Lake was originally designed by architect Tom Bendelow. His design, which took three years to complete, was short lived. In 1913, the Club hired Donald Ross to completely rework the Bendelow design. Over the years, Ross’ routing remained basically intact. George Cobb did some work in 1959 in preparation for the Club to host the Ryder Cup in 1963. After years of neglect, Rees Jones restored East Lake in 1993. In 2023, architect Andrew Green will lead a complete renovation of the course, using previously unknown photos as design inspiration.

The Tour Championship

August 28 - September 1, 2024

East Lake Golf Club has been the permanent home of the TOUR Championship since 2005. The tournament was first played at East Lake in 1998 and has been held at East Lake 23 times since then. The TOUR Championship is the culminating event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedEx Cup, with only the top 30 players on the points list qualifying each year. The 2023 TOUR Championship and FedEx Cup Champion is Viktor Hovland.

Contact the TOUR Championship Office: 404-378-8687 or [email protected]

“Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots – but you have to play the ball where it lies.”

– Bobby Jones

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Collin morikawa's career-low round, scottie scheffler's putting woes among tour championship's first-round takeaways, share this article.

ATLANTA — On a sweltering hot day, Adam Schenk torched East Lake Golf Club in his Tour Championship debut to the tune of 7-under 63. Yet he still got beat by two strokes in his pairing with fellow competitor Collin Morikawa.

“It sounds bad to say, but I’ve never won out here, so I guess I get kind of used to losing a little bit,” Schenk said. “But I played great, he just played a little better.”

If it makes Schenk feel any better, the 26-year old Morikawa posted his career-low on the PGA Tour, a sizzling 9-under 61 that was as hot as the temperature. Morikawa, who entered the week at No. 24 in the FedEx Cup, began the tournament at 1 under and 9 strokes behind FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler in the staggered start. By the time the day was over he was in the thick of the trophy hunt, tied with Keegan Bradley, who shot 63, and Viktor Hovland (68) for the lead at 10 under.

Scheffler (71) led by as many as five strokes on the front nine but hit it in the water and made a triple bogey at 15 to squander his lead. At the conclusion of the Tour Championship, the player with the lowest stroke total over 72 holes when combined with FedEx Cup Starting Strokes, will be crowned the FedEx Cup champion.

“Shoot, no better time, I guess, in our Tour Championship to show up and start playing some golf,” Morikawa said.

The two-time major champion said he made some subtle changes to his setup on Tuesday, and his iron play shined Thursday. He hit 16 greens in regulation and gained nearly four strokes on the field with his approach shots and ranked first in proximity too. Walking up the 15 th hole with caddie JJ Jakovac, Morikawa joked he had already hit more shots pin high than he had in four rounds at most tournaments of late. At the water-guarded 224-yard par-3 15 th , Morikawa oozed with such confidence that he didn’t even bother to watch the ball flight.

“Because I knew where it was going to go, and that’s the kind of control you want,” he said.

On one of the rare occasions when Morikawa misfired, he got a lucky break when he tugged his tee shot at the fifth hole and it ricocheted off a tree, back to the fairway and he made birdie.

“That’s kind of the momentum stuff that I just haven’t seen all year,” he said.

One hole later, he drilled his second shot from 224 yards to inside 4 feet and made eagle. Morikawa and Schenk combined to make 15 birdies and that eagle and nary a bogey between them for what would’ve been a best-ball 13-under 57, and both agreed they fed off each other as the round built.

“There’s a rhythm to it,” Morikawa said. “It was just really, really easy I think for both of us.”

Schenk, 31, also started the tournament trailing by nine strokes but closed the gap with four birdies in his final five holes and improved to T-5.

“I just fed off more of Collin than anything probably, and then I made some, and then he made some maybe off of me, but it’s definitely an enjoyable day when you are playing with someone that does play really well,” said Schenk, who is searching for his first career Tour title and summed up the round “as one of those days where nothing could go wrong.”

Here are four more things to know from the first round of the Tour Championship.

Scheffler struggles

Scottie Scheffler of the United States lines up a putt on the tenth green during the first round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on August 24, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

World No. 1 Scheffler shuffled away from a short post-round media session with his head down. He looked deflated after frittering away an early five-stroke lead and making a triple bogey at 15 en route to shooting 71 at East Lake.

That’s the bad news. The good news is he has three rounds to right the ship, and he’ll enter the second round in fourth place, just one stroke back at 9 under.

“It is a bit weird starting a tournament with the lead. I don’t know. It’s definitely an interesting format,” he said. “I guess it’s a little bit of a blessing to have a pretty bad day and still be in the tournament. So, yeah, go out there tomorrow and just keep fighting.”

Scheffler returned this week to his Scotty Cameron Special Select Tourtype GSS putter, the one he used to win the 2022 Masters and several tournaments, but it provided no spark to his struggles with the short stick. Scheffler ranked dead last in the 30-man field in Strokes Gained: Putting, losing 3.229 strokes in the first round.

Scheffler carded three birdies in his first six holes to reach 13 under, but he took three putts from 34 feet at No. 8 for his first bogey of the day. He bounced back by stuffing his approach at 10 for an easy birdie, but made back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 11 (another three putt) and 12. The 15 th proved to be his bugaboo, first rinsing his tee shot and then lipping out for yet another three putt and a triple-bogey six on the card, his first triple or worse on a hole all season (2,179 holes between them). No one else made worse than a bogey at 15 all day.

Scottie Scheffler entered today as the Tour's leader this season in first round scoring average. He was 1 of just 7 players Thursday to card a score over par. — Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) August 24, 2023

“I was expecting him to keep going after that start that he had, but that’s just this golf course,” Viktor Hovland, who played alongside Scheffler in the final group, said. “It’s not easy, especially that 14, 15, corner there.”

Bradley’s hot putting performance

Keegan Bradley tees off on the 16th hole during the first round of the TOUR Championship golf tournament at East Lake Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

Bradley finished with three birdies in his final four holes to shoot 63, his lowest score in 17 rounds at East Lake.

He is competing in the Tour Championship for the fifth time, but is making his first trip to Atlanta since 2018. This is the 10 th time he has held the 18-hole lead or co-lead on Tour, and he has yet to convert any of them into victory. In fact, he held the solo 18-hole lead at the 2011 Tour Championship, his first appearance in the event, where he opened with a 64 and went on to finish T-11, his best result in four previous starts.

Bradley played solid in all departments but had an especially good day with the putter, ranking second in Strokes Gained: Putting.

“I’ve been playing this last month under so much pressure every week, it seems like, and to go out there and shoot a round like that felt really nice,” he said.

Ryder Cup hopefuls make final push

Rickie Fowler chips onto the 15th green during the first round of the TOUR Championship golf tournament at East Lake Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

As Zach Johnson contemplates his six Captain’s picks for the 12-man team representing Team USA, he had to notice that some of the names under consideration were making a move on Thursday at East Lake. Check out this exchange with Bradley:

Does this week, how far do you think it goes for Ryder Cup, for being considered or picked?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Man —

Q. You knew this was coming, didn’t you?

BRADLEY: I knew it was coming, yeah. I was saying, I try my hardest to not think of the Ryder Cup, but everybody asks me about it. And as I’m walking down the fairways everyone’s yelling to me about it. So it’s impossible for me to not think about it. I got to think, a two-year qualifying process, with the tournament a month away, I don’t think everything is based on this tournament. But it might be. So, better to go play well than to not. I mean, they know how much I want to be on the team.”

The other player who help his cause is Morikawa.

“Hopefully, my record speaks for itself. Hopefully the golf speaks for itself today,” Morikawa said.  “But, look, at the end of the day, I want to win this tournament. I really do. It’s been too long. I want to find a way to win. Today definitely helped that.”

Rickie Fowler, who is also part of the conversation for a pick, shot 2-under 68, and Sam Burns signed for 4-under 66. Lucas Glover’s late push for a pick took a hit with a 2-over 72, which included a triple bogey.

Jordan Spieth, who is expected to get one of the six picks, shot 1-under 69.

Hovland seeking back-to-back wins

Viktor Hovland putts on the 18th green during the first round of the TOUR Championship golf tournament at East Lake Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

There’s no cooling off Hovland, not in this heat.

Hovland didn’t go crazy like he did on Sunday at the BMW Championship, making seven birdies in his final nine holes to ride off with the title, but he did enough in the opening round on Thursday to grab a share of the lead in the Tour Championship.

Hovland fired a bogey-free 2-under 68 at East Lake to join the three-way tie at 10 under. It was a subpar putting day by Hovland’s standards, as he lost nearly 2½ strokes on the greens and ranked 29th in SG: Putting (better than only Scheffler).

“I feel like it was a solid round,” he said. “I felt like I played a little bit better than the score, but hopefully that comes tomorrow or the rest of the week.”

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The week after the TOUR Championship, one of golf’s hottest architects will begin a dramatic East Lake renovation

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The Tuesday after a FedExCup champion is crowned at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club, the familiar venue for the TOUR Championship will undergo a dramatic renovation by one of golf’s leading architects.

East Lake Golf Club, founded in 1904 and famous for being the home club of great players from golf’s golden age, will have a new look for next year’s TOUR Championship that harkens back to the club’s history. The project is being led by Andrew Green, who earned praise earlier this year for his renovation of another Donald Ross design, Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, the host of this year’s PGA Championship.

Starting next week, East Lake will be stripped of its grass and undergo a dramatic renovation led by Green, whose work will be influenced by a 1949 aerial photo of the famed club. Like his work at Oak Hill, this will be a renovation that brings a club closer to its roots, harkening back to the days when the great amateurs Bobby Jones and Alexa Stirling called the course home.

“This is truly a case of a golf course having helped create great players,” said Green. “My job will be to present those features in a contemporary way, features that made great players of the past like Stirling and Jones learn to become shotmakers.”

An aerial view from 1949 of East Lake Golf Club. (East Lake Golf Club)

East Lake in its current form has become an aerial test, one that features deep bunkers and perched-up greens, as well as thick bermudagrass rough. The new East Lake promises to require a more diverse array of shots.

Greens are likely to get bigger to accommodate elements of the conjoined putting surfaces that were a feature in the club’s past. Bunkers will be shifted, in some cases dramatically, to recapture their older form while accommodating modern distances. The bunkers are also likely to sport more grass faces, which were seen in some limited, but intriguing, pictorial and film evidence from the 1920s and 1930s.

In those few areas where the landlocked course allows for additional yardage, the distance will be claimed. But the overall intent is not to make the course harder. It’s to make East Lake more interesting and more like it used to be. To that end, there will be more short grass around the greens to encourage a greater diversity of recovery options.

The course has always enjoyed a prominent role in the game’s history. East Lake was the home course of Jones, who electrified the golf world as an amateur in by winning four U.S. Opens, three Open Championships, five U.S. Amateurs and the 1930 Amateur Championship as part of his Grand Slam season.

His running mate in his early days at the club was Stirling (1897-1977), with whom he shared many youthful rounds of golf; she went on to win three consecutive U.S. Women’s Amateurs. Both golfers credited their youthful success to the lessons they learned at East Lake under the guidance of Scottish-born golf professional Stewart Maiden.

East Lake has been home to both champions and championships. Besides the 1963 Ryder Cup – which was won by the U.S., 23-9 – the club has hosted the 2001 U.S. Amateur and the TOUR Championship biennially since 1998 and annually since 2004 (as part of the FedExCup since 2007).

The plan is to redo East Lake’s entire infrastructure, including drainage, irrigation, turfgrass and reconstruct greens, tees and bunkers – and to have it all done in time for next year’s TOUR Championship, which is scheduled for Aug. 28-Sept. 1.

The course, only five miles east of downtown, dates to an original routing by Tom Bendelow. It was substantially altered in routing and features in 1913, with credit given to Donald Ross for the work.

In researching the club’s history, Green stumbled upon a 1922 reference in a Birmingham, Alabama, newspaper referencing Ross’s work at “the East lake course in Atlanta. Perhaps more revealing is a promotional brochure that Ross’ office produced circa 1930 listing his work. “East Lake Country Club 36 holes” is among the projects listed. That refers to the two 18-hole courses at the club (the second layout opened in 1930). Ross’ promotional literature often understates but never overstates the catalog of his completed works.

The Ross routing is virtually identical to today’s in the positioning of tees, fairways and basic green sites – with the considerable exception that, as was customary in the South in those days, there were two sets of greens. The notorious difficulty of maintaining warm-season, bermudagrass greens in the wintertime meant that dual season courses like East Lake – open throughout the year – relied upon grass greens in peak season and a secondary set of sand greens in the winter. Eventually, sometime after World War II, as turfgrass technology improved, it became possible to cultivate playable overseeded putting surfaces in the winter. But the dual green system survived long thereafter.

The 1949 aerial photo of East Lake that Green uncovered shows two sets of greens at play. Interestingly, some of the holes had greens that appeared to be split virtually down the middle, while other holes had more distinctive separation, including several with two separated green complexes. The dual system existed until architect George Cobb’s renovation of East Lake for the 1963 Ryder Cup. That is when he merged the greens into a single surface per hole, though it is not clear on what basis he decided on the specific contours for each putting surface.

That 1949 aerial reveals onto two-dimensional shapes. But the suggestion of some fascinating figures, like the diamond forming the combined second green of the current routing certainly caught Green’s eye. So, too, did the unusual shaping of bunkers – many of them trench-like in linear form, presumably with steep faces redolent of a partially sunken steeplechase. Another revealing feature of the course at the time: it was far more open in terms of interior vistas, with fewer trees than it has today.

After several difficult decades, new life was breathed into East Lake in the early 1990s thanks to the initiative of Atlanta businessman and philanthropist Tom Cousins.

He purchased East Lake with the intent to restore it as a tribute to the club’s great amateur golfers and as a catalyst for revitalizing the surrounding community. Rees Jones was brought in to revive the golf course, and the result drew national acclaim. The club added corporate members to help fund the effort. As a result, the community is thriving.

A par 5 that has been shortened to play as a par 4 for the TOUR Championship, this hole requires that the tee shot be long and to the left side of the fairway to allow players to see the putting surface. The second shot will be a mid-to long-iron into a fairly large green. The green slopes severely from back right to front left, making lag putting from the back a real chore.

Hole 11 <br> Par 3, 197 yards <br> <br> Depending on the wind, the tee shot to the elevated green ranges from a 4- to a 6-iron for most players. The green is 38 yards deep, and the back portion is blind to players on the tee. A large oak tree protects the right side of the green, and the front portion is pinched by a pair of deep, greenside bunkers. Sidehill putts often have 4 or 5 feet of break, and putts from above the hole are surprisingly quick.

Most players will hit fairway woods or long irons off the tee on this downhill par 4. An overhanging tree and deep rough on the left side of the fairway make this hole very tough from the left side. The right center of the fairway is the ideal location, leaving a short iron to the green.

This is a good driving hole. From the championship tee box, players aim just to the right of the fairway bunkers. A left-center fairway position is ideal. Right center is workable, but it means dealing with the right greenside bunker on the approach. Like many others at East Lake, the green is sloped from back to front, making ball position on the green critical.

Old oaks and tall pines make this straight-away par 4 a very tight and demanding driving hole. Longer tee shots could leave a difficult sidehill stance along the right side of the fairway. The two-tiered green is bunkered on both sides, with the green sloping from back to front. Players placing their ball below the hole will have opportunities for birdie.

Three tall pines on the right side of the fairway force players to hit a fade to the best position in the fairway. With a good drive, players can reach this short par 5 in two. A well-bunkered green poses problems if missed long or short. One of the easiest holes at East Lake, a par here will drop a shot to the field.

This picturesque hole provides a commanding view of the Atlanta skyline and East Lake. The fairway narrows to 25 yards in width 278 yards from the tee, making driving accuracy a premium on this long par 4. From here a mid-to long-iron is needed to reach the green. Two large bunkers await errant approaches into a large receptive green that slopes from back to front.

Two bunkers lie to the right of the fairway landing area on this par 4 at East Lake. The approach is played to a large, undulating green that is flanked by a big bunker to the right and one short to the left. A dominant ridge crosses the center of this green, making it tough to get the ball close to back hole locations.

Depending on the wind, players could use anything from a fairway wood to a long iron on this demanding par 3. Deep bunkers left and right of the two-tiered green leave little room for error. Any player leaving the ball above the pin must take extra care, facing one of East Lake's most difficult putts. Sunday afternoon drama awaits.

The drive on the first hole of the back nine requires the player to be on the left side of the fairway to have the best shot at the green. Two bunkers right of the green and one bunker left are ready to capture an errant shot. The deep bunker on the right makes a back right hole location the toughest.

To score well at East Lake, players can't afford to miss greens on the short side of the flagstick. That's particularly true here. This par 3 plays a bit shorter than the yardage, but it's a must to put the ball on the green. The green slopes dramatically from back to front and from left to right and is guarded by bunkers on both sides.

On this short par 4, a fairway wood off the tee should leave players with a short iron to the green. The front of the green is guarded by two large bunkers that are especially difficult if the hole is cut on the right portion of the green. The green slopes from back to front and has several dominating ridges that make it very difficult to read.

On this long, straight par 4, players will want to avoid the two fairway bunkers on the right to set up a mid-iron approach to this green. The green slopes from left to right, making left hole locations most difficult.

The second of two par 5s that have been shortened to play as par 4s for the TOUR Championship, this 520 yard hole will play much shorter than the yardage as the drive will pitch forward on the downslope of the fairway. The second shot will be a long iron from a downhill lie making it tough to get to tight hole locations.

This 209-yard par 3 is an intimidator, especially with the prevailing wind pushing the ball toward the water right of the green. The only bail-out is a bunker on the left which provides another terrifying shot. The most challenging hole location is front right, but back left, behind the bunker, is also tough.

The 16th is a slight dogleg left that demands accuracy off the tee. A fairway bunker along the right side will punish a drive straying in that direction, resulting in a difficult approach shot. The second shot must navigate three deep greenside bunkers in order to find the two-tiered green, blind to players from the fairway.

This par 4 is a dogleg left with bunkers and trees on the left side of the fairway that should deter players from cutting the corner. Although often thought of as a birdie hole, this hole has a relatively small, firm green surrounded by a deep bunker in front and thick rough on all sides. Birdies might not be so plentiful!

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - AUGUST 26: A view of the 18th green and clubhouse during the second round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on August 26, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

According to the club, the aim of the upcoming project is to continue East Lake’s legacy and “all the amazing things that East Lake stands for,” while reconnecting the club to the legacies of Jones, Stirling and Charlie Yates, the 1938 British Amateur champion.

The project also is intended to harken back to Ross’ design while providing “playability, strategy and tremendous variety” for members. Today’s layout tests the TOUR’s top players but can be difficult for the everyday golfer.

“The club is thrilled with Green’s approach and fully expects him to deliver a quality product that will serve the club well for years to come,” said Chad Parker, East Lake’s president and general manager.

There is good reason for the club’s faith in Green. In addition to his acclaimed work at Oak Hill, he also has led work on historic clubs like Inverness in Toledo, Ohio; Scioto in Columbus, Ohio; Congressional in Bethesda, Maryland and Wannamoisett in Providence, Rhode Island.

He also has proven his ability to provide quality on a value basis at such courses as The Country Club of York in Pennsylvania and the municipally-owned Eisenhower Park Golf Course in Annapolis, Maryland, where he created a bunkerless layout. His current portfolio, beyond East Lake, includes Interlachen in Minneapolis; Big Canyon in Newport Beach, California; Omaha Country Club in Nebraska and both Shoal Creek and The Country Club of Birmingham in Alabama.

Before hanging out his own shingle as a boutique-scale architect in 2015, Green spent 14 years as field coordinator for the golf construction firm of McDonald & Sons, Inc. In his subsequent work he has excelled at historic research, combing through archives and digging up historic images the way an archaeologist sifts through a field dig.

For East Lake, the plan is to accomplish an imaginative recreation of the spirit and sensibility of a historic golf course. Green is particularly excited about the ability to draw upon those diverse greens – combining some elements, strengthening others, and letting the ground evoke the kinds of shot-making demands that East Lake did in past iterations

The work will begin on the front nine, the holes to the east of the clubhouse. The exact configuration of the newly-restored East Lake will be determined, as are all successful projects, in the field.

It will still be East Lake. But now there will be an even closer connection between the club’s great history and the competition for the TOUR’s top prize.

Bradley S. Klein is a veteran golf writer and author of 10 books on course design. A former PGA TOUR caddie, he was architecture editor of Golfweek for over two decades and is now a freelance journalist and course design consultant. Follow Bradley S. Klein on Twitter .

Tour Championship

East Lake Golf Club has been the permanent home of the TOUR Championship since 2005. The tournament was first played at East Lake in 1998 and has been held at East Lake 23 times since then. The TOUR Championship is the culminating event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedEx Cup, with the top 30 players on the points list qualifying each year.

TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP BENEFITS THE EAST LAKE FOUNDATION

The East Lake Foundation was established in 1995 to transform the East Lake neighborhood and create new opportunities for the families who live here. Today, the Foundation provides comprehensive programs and facilities that attract people of all ages and incomes seeking a sense of community. None of this would be possible without the support of committed partners who share the Foundation’s vision.

One of those key partners is the PGA TOUR Championship. Over the years, the TOUR Championship has raised more than $42 million for the East Lake Foundation and First Tee –Metro Atlanta, and more recently, Grove Park Foundation and Purpose Built Schools Atlanta, among other nonprofits.

The 2023 TOUR Championship raised more than $1.5 million  to support the mission of the  East Lake Foundation .  The East Lake Foundation is grateful for the golf fans, PGA TOUR players, the PGA TOUR, the Coca-Cola Company, Southern Company, Accenture and the thousands of volunteers who make the tournament possible each year.

Experience the 2024 TOUR Championship rope side.

News from tour championship.

TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP ANNOUNCES RECORD $6.96 MILLION DONATION FROM 2023 TOURNAMENT

TOUR Championship officials today announced a record $6.96 million charitable donation from the 2023 tournament, up from $5.5 million in 2022. The announcement was made…

The Ins & Outs of the PGA Tour’s Broadcasting Room

By Jerry Clay, Drew Charter School Student Correspondent Every year the TOUR Championship takes place in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. This year it means…

Experiencing the TOUR Championship’s Ceremonial Hope Tee Shot

By Ja’Mya Duckworth, Drew Charter School Junior Each year the TOUR Championship kicks off with the Ceremonial Hope Tee Shot, hit by a First Tee…

Past Winners

2023 – Viktor Hovland

2022 – Rory McIlroy

2021 – Patrick Cantlay

2020 – Dustin Johnson

2019 – Rory McIlroy

2018 – Tiger Woods

2017 – Xander Schauffele

2016 – Rory McIlroy

2015 – Jordan Spieth

2014 – Billy Horschel

2013 – Henrik Stenson

2012 – Brandt Snedeker

2011 – Bill Haas

2010 – Jim Furyk

2009 – Phil Mickelson

2008 – Camilo Villegas

2007 – Tiger Woods

2006 – Adam Scott

2005 – Bart Bryant

2004 – Retief Goosen

2003 – Chad Campbell

2002 – Vijay Singh

2001 – Mike Weir

2000 – Phil Mickelson

1999 – Tiger Woods

1998 – Hal Sutton

1997 – David Duval

1996 – Tom Lehman

1995 – Billy Mayfair

1994 – Mark McCumber

1993 – Jim Gallagher, Jr.

1992 – Paul Azinger

1991 – Craig Stadler

1990 – Jodie Mudd

1989 – Tom Kite

1988 – Curtis Strange

1987 – Tom Watson

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Schedule of Events

Monday, august 26.

Golf Course –Closed to Public Practice Round for Professionals – East Lake Golf Club

Tuesday, August 27

Wednesday, august 28.

9:00am Gates Open Practice Round for Professionals East Lake Golf Club

Thursday, August 29

10:00am Gates Open

Round 1 of Competition – East Lake Golf Club

Friday, August 30

10:00am Gates Open Round 2 of Competition – East Lake Golf Club

Saturday, August 31

Round 3 of Competition – East Lake Golf Club

Sunday, September 1

10:00am Gates Open Round 4 of Competition – East Lake Golf Club

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Tour Championship: Exploring East Lake’s par-5s and key holes that will determine FedEx Cup winner

East Lake Golf Club is a staple on the PGA Tour calendar as it hosts the season ending Tour Championship each year.

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ATLANTA — East Lake Golf Club will undergo an extensive renovation next year. Renowned architect Andrew Green, who recently oversaw the restoration of Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course , will alter East Lake and attempt to bring the course back to its original Donald Ross design.

The bulldozers and the dump trucks arrive next week, but that does not matter much for this year’s Tour Championship .

The players certainly do not care about that either, as their sole focus is on the 7,346-yard layout that will play as a par 70.

East Lake has two par-5s, one on each nine, which will prove to be crucial holes this week.

The par-4 8th and the par-3 15th will also be pivotal, so let’s break them down:

Hole 6 - Par 5, 525 Yards

The 6th hole at East Lake is an uphill, dogleg right par-5 that requires the player to find the fairway off the tee.

Should they miss the fairway, then the gnarly Bermuda rough that lines the fairways here at East Lake will produce inconsistent lies. It may not be deep, but Bermuda grass gets tangled up with the club quite easily.

Alas, three bunkers protect the fairway, with two sitting on the right side. The other lies long and left, about 320 yards from the tee.

Hole 6 at East Lake is a beast of a par 5!⛳ Do you think you could par it? Presented by @Michelobultra #FedExChamp #FedExCup #PGA #PGATour #PlayingThrough pic.twitter.com/OJSbhBZxHQ — Playing Through (@_PlayingThrough) August 23, 2023

Trees line the fairway too, and as Xander Schauffele said during his pre-tournament press conference, pro golfers can do almost anything except hit through trees.

The second shot is all uphill to an elevated green. Players will likely require an extra club because of the elevation change.

They will also need to avoid the two bunkers that guard the green. One sits left of the putting green, while another lies short and right.

As is customary of Ross courses, the green slopes from the back to front, as the putting surface is shaped like an oval lying at a 45-degree angle.

Hole 8 - Par 4, 455 Yards

Perhaps the most beautiful spot on the property, the 8th hole is a brutal par-4 with water all the way down the left side.

The lake comes into play quite easily, as only a couple of yards lie between the fairway and the edge of the water.

It is quite intimidating.

The par 4 8th hole has caused all sorts of trouble over the years! Whoever can stay dry on this hole has a good chance to make par! Presented by @Michelobultra #FedExChamp #FedExCup #PGA #PGATour #PlayingThrough pic.twitter.com/yB0IWNnnOA — Playing Through (@_PlayingThrough) August 24, 2023

Three fairway bunkers sit on the right side, so anything pushed is not good either.

Should players find the fairway, they will find that everything slopes from right to left towards the water. The 29 right-handed players in the field will play their second shots with the ball above their feet. For Brian Harman —the only lefty this week—his second shot at the 8th will be played from below his feet.

Either way, the natural slope of the fairway forces the ball to go toward the water, so players will have to aim farther right than usual.

Up at the green, one bunker guards the front of it while another sits to the right of the putting surface.

Like the fairway, everything on the green slopes towards the water, which, again, very much comes into play.

Hole 15 - Par 3, 211 Yards

A beast of a par-3, the 15th hole at East Lake is almost completely surrounded by water.

The tee shot requires all carry, as any mishit short will find the lake.

Tiger Woods almost suffered this fate at the 2018 Tour Championship, but thankfully for him, his tee shot held up in the Bermuda rough just a couple of feet away from the water’s edge. He went on to make a bogey, but he still won the tournament. Had he knocked it in the water, a different outcome may have presented itself.

Up around the kidney-shaped green, one bunker sits to the left of it and usually receives plenty of action.

The green is somewhat tricky, as it slopes back to front.

Anyone who walks away with a three will be satisfied. Par is a good score, especially when big numbers loom all around.

Whoever leads on Sunday will need to find the green—or at the very least dry land—or else they could potentially lose millions of dollars.

Hole 18 - Par 5, 590 Yards

The most famous hole at East Lake is a dogleg left, downhill par-5 that finishes right in front of the club’s historic Tudor-style clubhouse.

The tee shot is blind and requires a draw off the tee.

It is a downhill tee shot, and finding the fairway is imperative to finishing the round with a good score. Gnarly Bermuda rough and tall Georgia pines line each side of the fairway.

Should players find the short grass, they hope their tee shot reaches the slope roughly 315 yards off the tee. That steep hill will extend drives by at least 40 yards, giving players a long iron into the green for their second shot.

The lake bisects the fairway roughly 200 yards from the green but does not usually come into play.

Should players decide to layup—an easy decision if they missed the fairway—two bunkers sit roughly 100 yards short of the green, one on each side of the fairway.

Up by the green, which slopes severely from back right to front left, two bunkers sit right while another sits long and left. A deep collection area short and left of the green could be difficult up-and-down.

Nevertheless, the 18th is an entertaining and scorable hole. It will produce plenty of drama to close out the championship come Sunday afternoon.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.

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2022 Tour Championship leaderboard breakdown: Scottie Scheffler goes low to increase lead in Round 1

Scheffler posted one of the lowest rounds of the day to push further ahead at east lake.

For the most part, Day 1 of The Tour Championship at East Lake went the way of the entire PGA Tour season. Scottie Scheffler entered with a lead and left with an even bigger lead, and now he goes into the next three days trying to win the richest prize -- $18 million for first -- in PGA Tour history.

Scheffler dominated the day like he dominated the season and added a 5-under 65 to his total of 10 under -- earned by coming in at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings -- to begin his week. His total of 15 under is five better than second and seven better than all but two players in this 29-golfer field. 

The Masters champ does have some heat around him, though, mostly from Xander Schauffele, one of the best players in East Lake history. That was Scheffler's primary competition on Thursday as he tried to create space between him and the rest of the leaderboard. 

Let's take a look at what he did on Day 1 and what's in store for the rest of the week.

1. Scottie Scheffler (-15): Scheffler was was quietly great on Thursday. Following an early 3-under start through six holes, he looked like he was going to run away from the field even earlier than some (including myself) predicted. However, he uncharacteristically struggled from tee to green in the middle of his round before closing with three straight birdies to touch off a 65 that included just one bogey. It didn't even feel like he played that well, but when the day ended he was five up on the world staring down the $18 million first prize. This is a little bit of who Scheffler is; it doesn't always look perfect, but he's been one of the best scorers of the year and will try to become the first golfer since Justin Thomas in 2017 to lead the PGA Tour with five wins in a season. A victory on Sunday would also more than double his season-long earnings of just over $14M.

Other contenders

2. Xander Schauffele (-10) 3. Matthew Fitzpatrick (-9) T4. Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Cantlay (-8) T6. Rory McIlroy, Sungjae Im, Cameron Smith (-7)

Schauffele's East Lake numbers are nearly comical. In 20 rounds, he's averaging 3.5 strokes gained on some of the most talented fields in golf. The next closest of the players in this field is McIlroy at 2.7 in 32 rounds, which is where Justin Thomas is as well. To further contextualize this, Tiger Woods has gained 3.29 strokes on fields at the Tour Championship in 28 rounds there, and Schauffele is living beyond that. Throw in the fact that he's been playing some terrific golf toward the latter part of the summer, and it's clear that Schauffele is the most fearsome of all the contenders Scheffler will try and hold off over the next 54 holes.

Rory's psycho scorecard

We got a gem from McIlroy on the first nine today. After opening with a triple at the first, he shot a 1-over 36 on that side of the course while carding just one par. It wasn't quite as wacky on the back nine, but any day in which you only make four pars and somehow still shoot in the 60s is a day worth celebrating your psycho scorecard. More importantly for McIlroy, he somehow is only eight back of the lead on a day when he finished second to last in driving in the field.

Purse strings

To try and bring into focus just what's on the table this week, consider the following: this week at the Tour Championship, the total prize money is $58 million. That is $8 million more than the entire PGA Tour season prize money this time 30 years ago.

Aaron Wise's opportunity

The best round early in the day belonged to Aaron Wise, who played by himself and offered a fake handshake to an invisible partner after his round. Oh yeah, and he dropped a 5-under 67 to move from last to inside the top 10. There are implications for Wise other than just the $58 million at stake. He's vying for what would be his first Presidents Cup team, and with the absence of Will Zalatoris, the door is open for Wise to play his way on that team. Wise currently sits 21st, which is way back of where you would think a player would be chosen as a captain's pick. However, Wise is young, talented and has been one of the hotter players down the stretch this year.

2022 Tour Championship updated odds and picks

• Scottie Scheffler: -120
• Xander Schauffele: +550
• Matt Fitzpatrick: 12-1
• Patrick Cantlay: 14-1
• Rory McIlroy: 14-1
• Cameron Smith: 25-1
• Jon Rahm: 25-1
• Joaquin Niemann: 28-1

The three guys on here that I really like are Scheffler, Schauffele and Niemann. Scheffler and Schauffele are, to me, in a two-horse race to win this week given their quality of play of late and solid history on this course. Niemann could ride a heater to catch them, especially if Scheffler collapses. His 63-63 start at Riviera earlier this season lingers in my mind, and he finished second in this field from tee to green on Thursday. I'd love to get him at 28-1 and then see another 64 from him on Friday afternoon.

Niemann off the top rope

We have a new shadow leaderboard leader in the clubhouse. Joaquin Niemann shot an 6-under 64 to climb from 2 under to 8 under on Thursday. He can get absolutely smoking at any given time and is a real threat to upend Scheffler and Schauffele at the top and become the first player to come from outside the top five in this format to win the event.

Here comes Xander

To the surprise of nobody, Xander Schauffele is playing well at East Lake. Nobody has dominated this place more over the last five year (he's averaging 3.5 strokes gained per round in his career here), and he's been solid in Round 1. He's 3 under so far and the only golfer within four of Scheffler.

Round of the day

Aaron Wise has the best round of Thursday's first round going after dropping a 5-under 65. He was in last place going into the day and played by himself but putted his way to the 67 and is currently in the top 10. There could be deeper implications for him, too, as the U.S. is looking to replace Will Zalatoris on this year's Presidents Cup team at Quail Hollow. He'd be an interesting choice, especially if he plays great this week. I personally think Kevin Kisner will probably get the spot, but Wise is somebody to keep an eye on.

Scheffler is rolling

The No. 1 player in the world came into the event -10 and is 3 under thru 7 holes. He nearly just holed out for eagle at the eighth and is staring at 14 under and what would be a six-stroke lead on Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. Honestly might win by eight strokes this weekend.

Rory's insane day continues

Still no pars from Rory, although he has a triple and an eagle on the card now. Back to -3, eight back of Scheffler.

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Wells Fargo Championship

Quail hollow club.

Looking ahead

A closer look at the interesting lineup of courses slated to host future PGA Championships

Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., site of the 2017 PGA Championship, will return to host the 107th edition in 2025.

Photo by Gary Kellner/PGA of America via Getty Images

A decade has passed since Valhalla Golf Club last hosted the PGA Championship, when Rory McIlroy held off Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy in 2014. The Louisville, Ky., club returns to host its fourth PGA Championship, and if the finish at this year's PGA is like either of the last two contested at Valhalla (Tiger Woods defeated Bob May in a thrilling playoff in 2000), then we're in for an exciting week.

Over the next decade, the PGA will continue to return to familiar host sites—notably Quail Hollow in 2025, Baltusrol in 2029 and Kiawah Island's Ocean Course in 2031—but also will visit courses last seen on the men’s side when they hosted the U.S. Open, including San Francisco's The Olympic Club and Congressional, located just outside Washington, D.C.

Also slated to host the championship in 2027 and 2034 is the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, the new headquarters of the PGA of America that features two new courses designed by Gil Hanse and Beau Welling .

Scroll on to see every course that is scheduled to host the PGA Championship and be sure to click on each page to learn more about each course and read experts' opinions and reviews from our panelists and readers.

2025: Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, N.C.

Charlotte, NC

• Second 100 Greatest
• Best In State

2026: Aronimink Golf Club, Newtown Square, Pa.

Aronimink Golf Club

Newtown square, pa.

• 100 Greatest

2027: Fields Ranch East, PGA Frisco, Texas

PGA Frisco: Fields Ranch East

2028: the olympic club (lake), san francisco.

The Olympic Club: Lake

San francisco, ca.

It seems fitting that, in a town where every house is a cliffhanger, every U.S. Open played at Olympic has been one, too. For decades, the Lake was a severe test of golf. Once it was a heavily forested course with canted fairways hampered by just a single fairway bunker. By 2009, the forest had been considerably cleared away, leaving only the occasional bowlegged cypress with knobby knees, the seventh and 18th greens were redesigned and a new par-3 eighth added. Despite those changes, the 2012 U.S. Open stuck to the usual script: a ball got stuck in a tree, slow-play warnings were given, a leader snap-hooked a drive on 16 in the final round, and a guy name Simpson won. If the past was prediictable, the future of the Lake Course more mysterious. The holes are being remodeled in 2023 by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner in preparation for the 2028 PGA Championship, and it remains to be seen what version of the Lake Course will ultimately emerge.

2029: Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower), Springfield, N.J.

Baltusrol Golf Club: Lower

Springfield, nj, 2030: congressional country club, bethesda, md..

Congressional Country Club: Blue

Bethesda, md, 2031: the ocean course, kiawah island, s.c..

Kiawah Island Golf Resort: The Ocean Course

Kiawah island, sc.

• 100 Greatest Public

2034: Fields Ranch East, PGA Frisco, Texas

Explore Golf Digest's new Course Reviews section where you can submit a star rating and evaluation on all the courses you’ve played. We've collected tens of thousands of reviews from our course-ranking panelists to deliver a premium experience, which includes course rankings, experts' opinions, bonus course photography, videos and much more. Check it out here !

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Wells Fargo Championship payout distribution 2024: Purse, prize money

By josh chandler | 7:00 am edt.

With another major on the near horizon, the best on the PGA Tour came together once again for the season's sixth signature event. This time, Quail Hollow welcomed the elite field on the other side of a major just as Harbour Town had done in April. The Wells Fargo Championship won't be the last signature event to border a major, either, with both the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village and this year's Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands set to follow suit.

Even with the absence of World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, golf's juggernaut, the cream rose to the top once again in a signature event, as it has more often than not this season. This time, Xander Schauffele and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy led the way. Schauffele, in search of his first win since the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open, took control at the top early in the week at the Wells Fargo Championship and never looked back.

Rounds of 64, 67, and a 1-under 70 on Moving Day, left the 30-year-old well-positioned to find the winner's circle once again heading into this year's final round at Quail Hollow. The King of Quail Hollow, Rory McIlroy, was hot on the American's heels, however. The Northern Irishman, a three-time winner at the course, recorded a terrific bogey-free 4-under 67 on Moving Day to ensure he was just one shot adrift of Schauffele's lead going into the final round.

The two at the top would enter the final round of this year's Wells Fargo Championship paired together in a final group for just the third time on tour, per PGA Tour Communications, with the other instances coming at the 2018 BMW Championship and the 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions.

3-time @WellsFargoGolf champion @McIlroyRory has trailed the leader heading into the final round for each of his wins. 2010: 9 shots back 2015: 3 shots back 2021: 2 shots back He is 1 shot back heading into Sunday at Quail Hollow. pic.twitter.com/xdjxTvmjtG — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 12, 2024

With Schauffele and McIlroy holding a significant advantage over the rest of the competition going into the final round and the closest from the chasing pack, Sungjae Im, four shots off the pace, it was looking increasingly likely that a 2024 signature event would crown a new champion come Sunday evening at this year's Wells Fargo Championship.

Whoever emerged victorious at Quail Hollow would not only follow in the footsteps of Chris Kirk (Sentry), Wyndham Clark (Pebble Beach), Hideki Matsuyama (Genesis), and Scottie Scheffler (Arnold Palmer, RBC Heritage), as a signature event winner this year, but also earn a significant share of this season's massive Wells Fargo Championship prize purse. How much was at stake? Let's take a look at the Wells Fargo Championship payout distribution and everything to know about the prize money on offer this year in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Wells Fargo Championship 2024: Total purse and winner's prize money

As the sixth of eight signature events on the PGA Tour schedule this season, the Wells Fargo Championship purse for 2024 is set at $20 million with this year's champion set to take home a massive $3,600,000 winner's share; 18% of the overall prize purse this year. For the second year running the Wells Fargo Championship will dish out a whopping $20 million, that figure is in keeping with all of the signature events on the PGA Tour in 2024 and comes in only behind this year's PLAYERS Championship for the largest prize purse tentatively set to be divvied out this season. In addition, the eye-opening $3.6 million winner's share at Quail Hollow matches the sum Scottie Scheffler received after winning last month's RBC Heritage.

Wells Fargo Championship payout distribution by finishing position in 2024

Here's the full breakdown of Wells Fargo Championship payouts for 2024, from the champion through to the 70th position on this year's leaderboard.

The large sums on offer at these signature events continue to impress with even 50th place in this year's Wells Fargo Championship netting a player over $50,000. Meanwhile, the Top 11 finishers at Quail Hollow will all cash cheques of $500,000 or more in prize money while securing a Top 3 finish in this year's championship will be worth over one million dollars.

In addition to taking home the massive $3.6 million winner's share, this year's Wells Fargo champion will also secure their spot in each of this season's remaining signature events (if not previously exempt already), along with everything else that comes with winning a PGA Tour event including earning a crucial 700 FedEx Cup points in the season-long race to the East Lake and the 2024 Tour Championship this Autumn.

Next. Ideal scenario for Tiger Woods. Analysts envision ideal PGA Championship scenario for Tiger. light

The second major of the year takes place next week as Valhalla Golf Club hosts the 106th playing of the PGA Championship.