Sorry fellas, new route to East Lake's 18th green won't be allowed

ATLANTA — Well, that strategy didn’t last long.

Several players here at the Tour Championship have been experimenting with hitting their drive at No. 18 down the fairway at No. 10 during practice rounds. Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, first and second in the FedEx Cup points standings, said they have contemplated the strategy for a better route to the green on the par-5 finishing hole at East Lake Golf Club.

That’s no longer an option.

Keegan Bradley, fourth in the standings and also one to consider the bold move, revealed Wednesday that the strategy will not be allowed. The area will be marked out of bounds for tournament play.

“I was going to hit it down the 10th hole on 18, and just found out that was out of bounds,” Bradley said. “That’s an interesting wrinkle to everything.”

Later in the day, the PGA Tour issued a statement that for safety reasons, two internal boundaries will be established. The safety of “spectators, players, caddies and everyone on property” were specified. The fairway on No. 7 is out of bounds during play of No. 6 and the fairway at No. 10 is out of bounds during the play of No. 18.

“This decision was made primarily out of safety concerns, specifically to prevent players from effectively putting people in harm’s way by taking an alternate route,” chief referee Gary Young said in a statement. “When it sounds like that is going to be a possibility, it necessitates an internal boundary.”

Sorry fellas. You’ll need to play the 18th hole as it was intended.

Chris Kirk saw a potential problem with the strategy and is glad the adjustment to the rules was made. He told officials something should be done before he’d ever had played the hole.

“I told them that for us as players, we’re going to do whatever we feel like is going to give us the best score, and it sounded like to me that was a no-brainer to go down No. 10,” Kirk said. “But I really like protecting the integrity of the design of the golf course, and I think that it would have been a pretty bad look on TV if you’re finishing a golf tournament and everybody is hitting it down the wrong fairway.”

Still no deal between PGA Tour and LIV

What’s taking so long, you ask.

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf remain separate entities despite a merger agreement in June of last year. Nearly 15 months later no deal has been reached. A Dec. 31 deadline originally was set between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which backs LIV Golf.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan addressed the situation Wednesday before the Tour Championship. He said he would not negotiate publicly.

“I think the best way for me to respond to that is when you look at where we are right now, we’re in regular dialogue,” Monahan said. “We have the right people at the table with the right mindset. I see that in all of these conversations, and that’s both sides. That creates optimism about the future and our ability to come together.

“But at the same time, these conversations are complex. They’re going to take time. They have taken time, and they will continue to take time.”

Weather report

The hottest temperatures of the week are predicted for Thursday, with temperatures in the upper 90s. There will be low humidity. Temperatures will cool slightly toward the end of the week, with potential for afternoon or evening thunderstorms. The chance of thunderstorms is 20-30%, with a greater potential for Saturday and Sunday.

Giving shots

Shane Lowry enters his first Tour Championship at 3 under, seven strokes back of Scheffler. This staggered scoring system is new for him.

“Yeah, I give shots to my friends every day at home, but my friends are not Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele,” Lowry said. “… In my head I’m seeing it as like a five-round event that I’ve got 3 under the first round, and I’m seven back of the leader, and I need to kind of pick away at that over the four days and see where it leaves me on Sunday.”

It’s all new

Schauffele was asked, bluntly, whether he liked the renovation at East Lake, a course on which he has had much success.

The short answer: It’s too early to tell.

“The course is really, really new,” Schauffele said. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if we had to play a different venue for a year or two, like to let this course settle in. That’s how new it is.”

Schauffele described two versions of approaches to the 18th green as an example of navigating an essentially new course.

“You can hit a really good shot — on 18 I saw someone from the fairway hit a long iron that landed literally half the size of this table in between the bunker, the rough, and the green in the fringe, and it hit really soft and plugged; and then a ball that landed (inches) further, it just went straight over the green. It’s just because it’s new, so it’s hard to tell.”