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JAYALGER’S WEEKLY BEAR TRAP
“I’m glad that I’m playing at East Lake and definitely putting my best foot forward, but another part of me was wishing that maybe I was at home enjoying a couple of beers and watching some football.” - Jason Dufner, 2013
PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP 2019
The Course - East Lake Golf ClubWe finally reach the final leg of the FedEx Cup Championship where the winner of the cup takes home a cool $15,000,000! We are in Atlanta, GA at East Lake Golf Club where it has hosted the TOUR Championship annually since 2004. East Lake GC is a par 70, 7319 yard course with four par 3s and two 5s.
Hole breakdown is as follows:
| Par 3 | 4 |
| Par 4 <400 | 2 |
| Par 4 400-450 | 4 |
| Par 4 450-500 | 5 |
| Par 4 >500 | 1 |
| Par 5 | 2 |
| Total | 18 |
Course Data 2018
Course Data by Par 2018
Course Stats
- Par 70
- 7,319 yards
- Architect(s)
- Tom Bendelow, 1908
- Donald Ross, 1913
- Rees Jones (renovation), 1994. Included rebuilding of all tees and bunkers, reshaping of all holes, new storm drainage and irrigation systems, and 120 acres of new sod.
- In the fall of 2016, the golf club flip-flopped the front and back nine.
- Turf
- Tees - Tifway Bermuda, Meyer and Zorro Zoysia
- Fairways - Meyer Zoysia
- Rough - Tifway Bermuda
- Greens - MiniVerde ultradwarf Bermudagrass
- 6,000 sq ft, above average size
- 12.5 stimpmeter, fast
- Sand bunkers - 74
- Water Hazards - 6, in play on 7 of 18 holes
- Difficulty
- 2018, 24th of 51 courses played (-0.383 RTP)
- 2017, 30th of 50 courses played (-0.617 RTP)
- 2016, 27th of 50 courses played (-0.385 RTP)
Brief Tournament Information
- Top 30 golfers on FedEx Cup point standings
- NO CUT
- Staggered start (whether you like it or not). The FedExCup leader heading to the TOUR Championship will start at 10 under, second place at 8 under, third 7 under, fourth 6 under with fifth at 5 under. Players ranked 6-10 will start at 4 under, 11-15 at 3 under, 16-20 at 2 under, 21-25 at 1 under and 26-30 at even par. Using this staggered leaderboard, the person at the top after 72 holes wins.
- Winners (since 2016)
- 2018, Tiger Woods, -11
- 2017, Xander Schauffele, -12
- 2016, Rory McIlroy, -12
- Additional Notes
- Course record - 60, Zach Johnson (2007)
- Tournament record - 257 (-23), Tiger Woods (2007)
DraftKings Notes 2018
- Average cash line (GPP) - 472.02 DK pts
- Average cash line (cash) - 459.70 DK pts
Betting Notes
- Many books are offering both bets with and without the FedEx Cup adjusted scores
- The odds listed in THE CHART are WITH the FedEx Cup adjusted scores
The Stats to Consider
- Considering the staggered start, I think the strategy to take would be similar to the round 4 showdown slate on DK or even nascar where starting position counts
- Everyone gets 4 rounds of golf. Golfers will need a lot of birdies to catch up to JT especially on the par 4s
- Got to hit the fairway. The rough is penal and water will be costly on several holes. JT only hit 62% of fairways last week
- As with most weeks, elite ball strikers should rise to the top
Quotes about the course
- TIGER WOODS (2018) - “If you drive the ball in the rough, you know you can't get the ball close. The Bermuda rough, you just can't control it. It puts a premium on driving and puts a premium on allowing for a little bit of chase on some of these greens.”
- DUSTIN JOHNSON (2017) - “Driving it in the fairway is the most challenging part out here. You know, it's a premium for sure. This rough's deep. The ball sits on the bottom every time. So you really got to hit it in the fairway.”
- MATT KUCHAR (2016) - “Conditions have been really good. Not much wind. Ball has been going a long way. It's hot and humid. But even with the ball going far and not much wind, it's still a demanding, difficult golf course. This rough is so penalizing. Driving is such a critical key around here.”
THE CHARTS
2018-19 Season
- Not as good of a year as last season but the PGA tour is a long grind. I’ll look at my process, make some refinements and get ready for the fall swing in a few weeks.
The Picks
Anyway, I hope that this helps you in your own process to select your golfers for this week. Please leave me any questions, comments, suggestions or any rants and touts you would like to discuss either here on Vicehood.com, in our Slack, on twitter @algertorr, or on DK/FD/FDR jayalger. Good luck this week!