Why The Tour Championship Likely Isn't Leaving Atlanta

David Dusek of Golfweek explores a topic with questions similar to those asked by may intrigued by the idea of a Tour Championship rota. With Coca Cola no longer a full sponsor—Proud Partners along with Southern Company—the PGA Tour would seem free to perhaps move the event around.

Furthermore, according to reports, the 2019 edition will only be about ending the FedExCup. That means only one winner will be crowned and that winner will be the final points chase winner. Having an allegiance to Atlanta or the Tour Championship or East Lake would seem less important.

But as we’ve seen in recent years, rotas are hit-and-miss propositions on the attendance, weather, intrigue and corporate support fronts. The Tour Championship’s rota years even remind us of this, despite the marquee value of certain sites.

Most golf fans probably forget that the first Tour Championship, which was won by Tom Watson, was contested in 1987 about 1,000 miles to the Southwest of Atlanta, at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio. The following year at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Curtis Strange won the Tour Championship in a playoff over Tom Kite, but Kite would win the next year at Harbour Town Golf Links in a playoff over Payne Stewart.

The Tour Championship then made two-year runs at Pinehurst No. 2, The Olympic Club and Southern Hills Golf Club before alternating between Champions Golf Club in Houston and East Lake starting in 1997. Since 2004, all Tour Championships have been played at East Lake, the course Bobby Jones grew up playing.