Celebrating 20 years at East Lake Golf Club
Part II, Records
This year, the TOUR Championship will be celebrating the 20th playing of the event at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, GA. To commemorate this milestone, we’ll be diving back into the archives for some of the greatest moments, records, winners and statistics.
Johnson close to PGA TOUR history, but happy to settle with 60
Johnson entered the final round of the TOUR Championship at 13-under, trailing Tiger Woods by six. Johnson first started thinking about the Holy Grail of 59 when he rolled in a 17-footer for eagle at the 15th hole and moved to 9-under for the day.
He said he had to take a couple of deep breaths on the 16th tee to settle his nerves. His drive at the 17th hole settled into the right fairway bunker, but Johnson hit a stellar 4-iron that left him with a 6-footer for another birdie. After he made the putt and walked to the 18th tee, Johnson said he "could barely stand up."
"My shoulders felt heavy and my legs felt like they weighed nothing," he recalled. "My hands were shaking and my heart was pounding. I was breathing all right, though. I guess the yoga that I've been doing helped out a little bit."
Johnson wanted to hit a smooth 2-iron, but he pulled it into the right front bunker on East Lake's unusual par-3 finishing hole. He had plenty of green to work with, though, and Johnson came within about 12 inches, above the hole, of making it.
"(It was) extremely fun," Johnson said. "That's not an opportunity you get very often. You usually hit 59, but it's by about hole 15 or 16. ... We just had everything going our way."
Déjà vu all over again as Woods dominates inaugural FedExCup Playoffs
In his final event of another spectacular season, Woods closed with a 4-under 66 to shatter the tournament record and win the TOUR Championship by eight shots for his second straight victory in the inaugural FedExCup Playoffs.
Along with earning $1.26 million in cash for winning the TOUR Championship for his seventh PGA TOUR title of the year, Woods was a runaway winner of the FedExCup and the $10 million that goes with it.
- First player to win the TOUR Championship multiple times (Also won the 1999 TOUR Championship at Champions Golf Club in Houston)
- Posted four rounds in the 60s at the TOUR Championship four times in his 11 starts (1999, 2000, 2005, 2007)
- 54-hole total (191, 19-under) was the lowest in TOUR Championship history
- 72-hole total (257, 23-under) was the lowest in TOUR Championship history
What a putt, what a reaction!
In classic Lefty fashion, Phil Mickelson buries an unbelievable birdie putt from 94-feet from off the fringe on the par-4 1st hole in Round 1 of the 2016 TOUR Championship.
Na becomes the new “Sprint” Cup champion
Kevin Na didn’t wake up Sunday morning with any specific plan, and he certainly didn’t tee off in the final round of the TOUR Championship determined to play the fastest round of his PGA TOUR career.
It just sort of happened.
They barely stopped. Na, playing as a single for the second consecutive day, sprinted throughout most of his round and finished in one hour, 59 minutes, 52 seconds.
Perhaps the most impressive thing, however, is that he shot his best round of the week – an even-par 70 that included birdies in his final four holes. No official records exist of fastest round on TOUR, but Na thinks his combination of speed and score is probably a first.
Revitalizing our community through the East Lake Foundation
This April, the TOUR Championship announced a $3.5 million charitable donation from the 2019 event – a tournament record – to its four primary beneficiaries, which include the East Lake Foundation, Grove Park Foundation, Purpose Built Schools Atlanta and the First Tee® of Metro Atlanta. The TOUR Championship, with the support of Proud Partners Coca-Cola and Southern Company, has invested more than $34 million in local nonprofits since the event was first staged at East Lake Golf Club in 1998.
Founded in 1995, the East Lake Foundation was formed to revitalize a troubled inner city neighborhood into a vibrant community where all residents can thrive. The East Lake revitalization includes The Villages of East Lake mixed-income apartment homes; Charles R. Drew Charter School, serving more than 1,800 children from Pre-K through grade 12; the East Lake Family YMCA; Sheltering Arms East Lake, the 9-hole public Charlie Yates Golf Course, and East Lake Golf Club.
In addition to the East Lake Foundation that has been supported by the TOUR Championship since it was first staged at East Lake Golf Club in 1998, the TOUR Championship also supports both the Grove Park Foundation and Purpose Built Schools Atlanta, which allows the TOUR Championship to connect more communities and organizations engaged in holistic community revitalization to each other and to one of the greatest annual sporting events in Atlanta.
For more information on our charitable beneficiaries and partners, please visit tourchampionship.com/charity.
