Collin Morikawa and his caddie agree that one hole at East Lake is ‘not the best designed’

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East Lake Golf Club has hosted the Tour Championship for the past 22 PGA Tour seasons.

The course is widely regarded as one of the best in the United States, but it is not immune to criticism.

World number seven Collin Morikawa actually knocked one hole after his first round at the Tour Championship.

Morikawa shared that he and his caddie, Mark Urbanek, agree that it was poorly designed.

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Collin Morikawa criticizes the 18th hole at East Lake during the Tour Championship

Morikawa thinks that the Tour Championship field having different approaches to the 18th hole at East Lake suggests that it is not well-designed.

It’s a 585-yard par five, where it’s difficult to reach the green in two because the approach shot is so long that it’s either difficult to reach or to hold the green.

“Yeah, Mark and I, my caddie, we talked about it where obviously there’s the big grandstand down the left, I think, when you have a hole where guys are looking different ways and how do you play it differently, it’s maybe a unique hole and maybe not the best designed,” Morikawa explained.

“I think the greens being a little bit softer this year helped that. Viktor [Hovland] took it all the way down, and last year, if you took it all the way down, you were still trying to put it in that front bunker. You just couldn’t stop it. I think this year you can stop a 4-iron or a 5-wood if you land it on the front edge.

“It’s just a tough hole because if you miss… I got lucky with where my first shot ended up in the rough, like having a shot over the water, but I could just end up chipping it 15 yards in front of me, it rolls all the way down, and then I have a 4-iron.”

Collin Morikawa says whether the Tour Championship setup is harder than last year

The setup at East Lake was supposed to be more difficult this year and last, but Morikawa believes that the weather conditions have prevented that from happening.

PGA Tour players are so good that no matter where you place the pins, they will go after them if the ground is soft, which it was in round one of the Tour Championship.

“Definitely a couple of pins that were a little more towards the corners,” Morikawa added. “If you compare to last year, just with conditions right now, flags are barely moving, and it’s rained a lot over the last day, so things that you can’t control.

“It’s just Mother Nature. When conditions are like that, we’re going to be firing at pins. That’s just the nature of what we do.

“Lift, clean, and place. You’ve got a lot of wedges on this golf course. Can’t really do much to tuck them away because even if you do tuck them in corners, we’re firing away with a wedge.”