The Tour Championship’s third round had the misfortune of going up against the Georgia-Clemson football game on Saturday.
As you might imagine, college football won the television ratings.
In the Atlanta market, the Georgia game averaged 439,586 households while airing on Channel 2 Action News. The game had a noon kickoff. The hourlong pregame show on the network averaged 97,504 households.
The Tour Championship, which aired on NBC, averaged 30,052 households during the third round. The first pair teed off at 12:11 p.m. and the final pair teed off at 2:55 p.m.
No. 1 shows teeth
Congratulations Sungjae Im, Sam Burns, Xander Schauffele and Taylor Pendrith.
They accomplished a rare feat at the Tour Championship. They all birdied hole No. 1. That’s the list.
The first hole at East Lake Golf Club showed its teeth – from start to finish.
The opening par-4 hole was the toughest for the entirety of the Tour Championship. It yielded the four birdies along with 68 pars, 41 bogeys and seven double bogeys all week. That’s a total of 51-over par for the 120 times played.
Here is the breakdown:
Thursday: Scoring average of 4.40 with two birdies, 15 pars, 12 bogeys and one double bogey.
Friday: Scoring average of 4.467 with zero birdies, 19 pars, eight bogeys and three double bogeys.
Saturday: Scoring average of 4.433 with two birdies, 16 pars, nine bogeys and three double bogeys.
Sunday: Scoring average of 4.40 with zero birdies, 18 pars, 12 bogeys and zero double bogeys.
Drivable No. 8
For the second time this week, the forward tees were used on the par-4 eighth hole to make it a drivable 324 yards.
Three players accomplished the feat in Sunday’s final round – Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Cantlay and Im. Aberg and Im eagled the hole. Aberg made his eagle putt from 23 feet, 1 inch. Im made his from 25-9. Cantlay two-putted for birdie from 40-11.
Collin Morikawa and Christiaan Bezuidenhout both drove over the green, each traveling 347 yards. Morikawa got up and down for birdie. Bezuidenhout got up and down from the left bunker for birdie.
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