‘Dawgs on Tour Compete for Tour Championship in Atlanta

We’ve made it. It’s been a long time since we were last here. The slate has been wiped clean and everyone here has hope and optimism that they too can be a champion.

I could be talking about the return of college football. But I’m not, at least not today. There will be plenty of time next week to Munson, and don’t worry, I will. Yet today we preview the biggest purse in professional golf, and one with the most meritorious qualifying requirements: the Tour Championship of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

We return to East Lake, the home course of Bobby Jones, whose only failings in life were to contract a degenerative nerve disease and to matriculate at Georgia Tech. The Tom Bendelow designed, Donald Ross and Rees Jones tweaked, and Andrew Green restored course is a gem on the eastern side of downtown Atlanta proper. It now plays as a par 4 at 7,490 yards and includes a few changes including converting 14 to a par 4, a new tee box at 15 over the water, and playing the par 3 ninth at up to 260 yards. Most of the greens have been remodeled to introduce more plateaus and less regularity in the overall shape. All these changes were to toughen the course and demand more from the best golfers on the planet.

I referenced wiping the slate clean. That is because the “staggered start” scoring based on current point standings has been done away with. The top 30 players gained entry based on points through the season and two playoff events, but now everyone starts at level par and the low score this week will be the Tour Champion. So if you’re in the field, you have the same chances as everyone else. Just like Nebraska fans must feel like.

There are the usual suspects like Scottie Scheffler whose current 3 year run is really only comparable to Jack and Tiger. Rory McIlroy skipped the first playoff event but was still safely qualified thanks to wins at Pebble, Sawgrass, and Augusta National. You’ve got your boys club of Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas, and a few new faces like Chris Gotterup and Ben Griffin. But you’re not here to read about any of those schlubs – you’re here to check out the former Georgia Bulldogs in the field. And we’ve got 4 of ‘em.

Russell Henley comes in a 7th though he’s 5th in the world rankings. With a few setbacks with his aging parents but new additions to his immediate family and a move back to Macon, Henley is enjoying his best season on Tour.

Sepp Straka is 8th in points, mostly due to withdrawing from last week’s playoff event to attend a private family matter. We’re glad he’s back playing, and with Duane Bock on the bag, you’d better watch out for the ball-striking Austrian.

Harris English takes the 11th latest tee time. A win at Torrey Pines early not only positioned him well for these playoffs, but also locked him (along with Henley) for one of the 6 automatic picks for the US Ryder Cup team (Straka is just a spot or two out of locking a Euro slot but could move up this week).

And Brian Harman enjoyed a win in Texas (which seems like a Bulldog thing to do) with a lot of other consistent play this season. If he can make putts, the former British Open champ can hang with anyone. And he’s currently 12th in Ryder Cup points, so a good week could be the difference in getting picked for the US squad at Bethpage next month.

30 players, 4 Bulldogs, and a $40 million tournament purse. Once Farmageddon is done, you can switch over to NBC and check out these ‘Dawgs chasing little white balls. Either way, we’ve got college football and meaningful golf, so that should be a nice warmup to the real thing next Saturday. Enjoy, and as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!