The PGA Tour circulated a statement at 6:24 pm local time on Wednesday here in East Lake identifying two areas of internal out-of-bounds at the Tour Championship.
The 10th fairway is out of bounds when playing from the 18th hole, and the fairway on hole 7 is off-limits when playing hole 6. The changes were made primarily for the safety of the players and everyone in attendance in Atlanta.
The course has been widely described as completely different from what the top 30 players experienced this time last year at the FedEx Cup finale after architect Andrew Green’s mass restoration. The large lake in the approach to the 18th green has been shifted, and players will virtually always have a downhill lie with their second shot if they find the narrow fairway.
With this in mind, the prospect of competitors avoiding an awkward second shot by hitting their ball down the 10th hole was one the tour wanted to eradicate, but were the players planning on this cunning tactic in the first place?
Canadian Open and Scottish Open champion Bob MacIntyre wasn’t shy in revealing the plans he and his caddie hatched before the PGA Tour made the 10th hole lava. The Scotsman shot a 2-under 69 on Thursday.
