Daily Fantasy Golf Course Primer: TOUR Championship

The PGA Tour season all comes down to this, the final event of the calendar: the TOUR Championship.

As has been the case for the past two years, the 30-golfer field will have a modified start, and golfers will be assigned strokes under par before teeing off. Those scores, naturally, are based on their FedEx Cup point standings.

But what about the course itself? What matters for East Lake? Let's dig in.

East Lake Golf Club Course Information

Par: 70
Distance: 7,346
Average Green Size: 6,090 square feet
Green Type: Bermuda
Stimpmeter: 12
Past 2 Winning Scores (Net): -21, -18
Past 2 Winning Scores (Gross): -15, -13

The longstanding course, East Lake Golf Club, has hosted the TOUR Championship since 2004, so we have plenty of data on it. There have been a few renovations in that span, including 2016 and 2020 (with the 2020 renovation seeing some trees removed).

The par 70 ranks as 140 yards longer than the typical par 70 on the Tour rotation.

The bermuda greens rank as quite average in size and speed with a 12 on the Stimpmeter.

As for scoring, we have seen Dustin Johnson hold onto a -10 start, and in 2019, it was Rory McIlroy leading both in net score (-18) and gross, 72-hole, unadjusted score (-13).

But it was actually Xander Schauffele -- and not DJ -- winning the 72-hole gross score title last year, so we're looking at plenty of birdie chances this week with gross scores sitting around -15.

East Lake Golf Club Hole-by-Hole Breakdown

In total, we have only four outlier holes that are either notably shorter or longer than the usual hole at the same par on Tour.

Those include two short par 4s that hover right around 390 yards. Those also include a long par 3 (235 yards to end the front nine) and then a 520-yard par 4 as the 14th hole.

The overall vibe, though, is that distance generally helps at East Lake and that driving accuracy can also get the job done.

Courses Similar to East Lake Golf Club

Some other courses with average bermuda greens and average-to-long overall lengths include:

- Country Club of Jackson (Sanderson Farms Championship)
- The Concession Golf Club (WGC-Concession)
- TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course) (Valero Texas Open
- Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead) (Valspar Championship)

Key Stats for TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club

- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Off the Tee
- Driving Accuracy
- Birdie or Better Rate
- Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda

The course fit tool at datagolf shows a pretty noticeable emphasis on driving accuracy, so I don't want to overlook that even though the preferable off-the-tee stat is the strokes gained version, which does credit distance more than accuracy but will penalize golfers who consistently miss the fairway or who aren't long enough to separate from the pack off the tee.

But more than driver, irons matter. Roughly 34.0% of scoring dispersion at East Lake is explained by strokes gained: approach, compared to 15.6% by off-the-tee play (and 14.0% for around-the-green play).

Birdies will go a long way toward separating the golfers this week, as scoring bonuses will be tight -- and it'll come down to who is making birdies and eagles.

Golfers With Great Course History at East Lake Golf Club

These golfers have gained at least 0.5 strokes per round at East Lake Golf Club since 2012 among golfers with at least eight rounds played at the course.

- Xander Schauffele (2.1)
- Rory McIlroy (1.5)
- Justin Thomas (1.3)
- Billy Horschel (0.9)
- Jon Rahm (0.7)
- Sergio Garcia (0.7)
- Tony Finau (0.6)
- Dustin Johnson (0.5)
- Jordan Spieth (0.5)