Why Xander Schauffele’s stellar East Lake record is worthless this week
Xander Schauffele has his work cut out for him at this week's Tour Championship.
Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour via Getty Images
Perhaps no golfer has performed better at East Lake Golf Club, the longtime home of the Tour Championship, than Xander Schauffele. But Schauffele has exactly zero FedEx Cups to show for his efforts. That could change this week, but he won’t be able to rely on the trove of course knowledge and feels he’s accumulated over the years.
That’s thanks to a massive restoration effort that has left the course virtually unrecognizable, at least according to Schauffele.
But first, Schauffele’s record at East Lake. The World No. 2 has played the Tour Championship seven times. In three of those iterations, he finished with the lowest aggregate score. Despite that, he has only one official Tour Championship win on his resume and no FedEx Cup victories. Here’s why.
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In his first appearance as a rookie in 2017, he won. But back then, the Tour Championship winner didn’t automatically claim the FedEx Cup. Justin Thomas still had the most points after East Lake, so he took home the Cup. Schauffele finished third in that race.
In 2019, Schauffele again put together the best four-round aggregate score at East Lake, but because he started six shots behind leader Justin Thomas, he failed to win the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup titles, which went to Dustin Johnson.
A similar story played out last season. Schauffele tied Viktor Hovland for the lowest aggregate score at East Lake in 2023, but because of their starting scores, Hovland ended up on top and hoisted the Cup.
This year, Schauffele will begin the tournament in his best position yet. He starts in second with a score of eight under, only two shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler.
But all of Schauffele’s past excellence at East Lake will provide him little help as he tries to win his first FedEx Cup this week. Why? East Lake, which became the permanent home of the Tour Championship back in 2004, underwent a dramatic restoration at the hands of architect Andrew Green ahead of the 2024 playing of the event.
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As a result, the players will be faced with a “new golf course,” as Schauffele called it in his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday.
“Whatever record I had is the past. I have no memory or anything really on any hole to go off of, not even a tree I could aim at that I used to aim at. It’s just that different,” Schauffele explained to reporters.
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“I’ve played a lot of new courses this year that I’ve done okay at, and this is a brand new property,” Schauffele said, before detailing the extensive changes, “Literally the bunkers are new, the grasses are new in the fairways, the greens are new, the grass on the greens are new, the runouts are different, the slopes are different. I think the only thing that’s the same are the directions of the hole.”
“It’s just new. It’s firm. It’s fast. Needs to settle in,” he continued. “It’s a very brand new — I’m not huge in agronomy, but I’ve played some new courses before, and they’re a little bouncy. However it was designed to be played, it’s going to be a little bit different for the first two years just because it hasn’t settled in.”
To put a finer point on it, Schauffele stated that pretty much the only thing that is the same post-restoration is the course’s name and footprint.
“To me, it’s got the same name; it’s East Lake Golf Club. It’s in the same property, similar square footage. But that’s about it.”
As for his inability to win the FedEx Cup despite playing so well at East Lake, Schauffele admitted he was frustrated, but coming up short in the past has made him “hungry” to finally bring a Cup home with him.
“I figured they just needed to change the course so I have a better chance,” Schauffele joked. “Yeah, I mean, you’re going to be pretty hungry when you get close. You’re champing at the bit. It’s right there in front of your face. You’re never able to hold on to it. No doubt at all, I’m very hungry.”
Schauffele’s latest attempt to satisfy that hunger begins on Thursday when he tees off for the first round alongside Scheffler at 2 p.m. ET.
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