Tommy Fleetwood admits the hole at East Lake he’s really struggled with in practice and claims it’s ‘a bit harsh’

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Tommy Fleetwood will be one of the players hoping to make the most of starting strokes being a thing of the past at the Tour Championship.

Tommy Fleetwood goes into the season finale fifth in the FedEx Cup standings. In previous years, that would have meant that he would have started five shots behind Scottie Scheffler on five under par at East Lake.

Thankfully for 29 players in the field, Scheffler will have no advantage ahead of the Tour Championship. But clearly, the world number one remains the man to beat this week.

Fleetwood meanwhile, is the only player in the top eight in the FedEx Cup standings without a win to his name this season. Of course, the 34-year-old had golden opportunities at both Travelers Championship and the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Tommy Fleetwood picks out the hole at East Lake which feels harsh

So he is in good form. And given how demanding East Lake is set to be, it would be no surprise to see Fleetwood put himself in the mix in the coming days.

However, there is one hole which Fleetwood has one or two concerns about. Speaking to the media about the new tee box on the par three 15th, Fleetwood admitted hoping that the tournament organisers will not opt to lengthen the hole as much as they possibly can.

“Yeah, I played it today. I’m not sure if they’ll put it off that back tee. I mean, they might. I hit two great shots today and couldn’t hit the green. I don’t know, maybe everybody else can and it’s me that’s struggling. But that back tee – if the wind is in a particular direction, I think it’s just a bit harsh that you’re on a par three hitting a great shot and can’t hit the green,” he said.

“It’ll be interesting really. Yeah, it’s a very tough hole. It’s a better hole with a short iron in your hand, in my opinion. But whatever they do, I’ll stand up and try and hit a good shot.”

How Tommy Fleetwood has performed at the Tour Championship during his career

There are only two par fives this week at East Lake, with the sixth and the 18th hole offering the only opportunities for the longer hitters to really press home their advantage.

Fleetwood was asked about why he has tended to score well on golf courses with a par of 70.

“I don’t know. I probably wouldn’t consider myself a birdie machine, so maybe if there’s less chances of birdies, it helps me. I’m not sure. Maybe certain holes that are supposed to be a par five and they’re a par four require a bit more patience or something like that, different – I don’t know. It’s probably a nice thing to have that I’m good at a par 70. I’m really not sure. Don’t know,” he added.

Fleetwood does not have the best record at the Tour Championship so far. He finished tied for sixth in 2023. However, that is his only top 10 at the event in four previous starts.

Obviously, every player will start with a clean slate this week. And East Lake has undergone a significant number of changes since the 2023 event. So it will be fascinating to see which players make the most of not finding themselves several shots back of Scheffler before they have even teed off.