The 2025 PGA Tour season comes to a close at East Lake this week with a much-maligned format that had been in play in recent years finally scrapped with Scottie Scheffler strongly favoured to claim his second straight Tour Championship.
Key Stats/Skill Set Required
- GIR
- Ball Striking
- Strokes Gained: Tee To Green
- Birdie or Better
- Putting Average
- Par 4 Scoring
- Strokes Gained: Off The Tee
- Strokes Gained: Around The Green
- Scrambling
East Lake is very much a second-shot course that rewards tremendous ball striking. Putting well is key, as is form around the green. Those with form on Donald Ross courses hold a big advantage.
Key Correlation Courses/Tournaments
- Sedgefield
- Detroit Golf Club
It is impossible to go past Scottie Scheffler and if he is your only play this weekend there would be nothing wrong with that. Scheffler comes off a win in the BMW Championship while he won two majors this year (and finished 4th and 7th in the two he did not win). In his last 10 starts he has five wins and has not finished worse than eighth. He is the best player since peak Tiger Woods. He profiles tremendously again leading the Tour in Strokes Gained: Tee To Green, Birdie or Better, Strokes Gained: Off The Tee and Par 4 Scoring while he ranks 2nd in Scrambling, 4th in Putting Average, 4th in Ball Striking and 6th in GIR.
If avoiding Scheffler and the shorts, Russell Henley is a great starting place. He profiles beautifully for the Tour Championship. He ranks Top 8 in Strokes Gained: Around The Green, Strokes Gained: Tee To Green and Par 4 Scoring. Henley won the API this year and has finished Top 17 in his last six, so playing well. He has finished Top 4 in two of his last three at East Lake.
JT has been terribly disappointing in both playoff events this year and his major form leaves a lot to be desired in 2025 but around that he has been very good. East Lake certainly suits. He has finished Top 7 in seven of eight starts. Ranks 2nd in Putting Average, 4th in Birdie or Better and 6th in Par 4 Scoring.
Sepp Straka comes into this fresh after missing the BMW Championship. He has had a very good season with two wins in 2025. He ranks Top 14 in Birdie or Better, Putting Average, Strokes Gained: Tee To Green and GIR. Suspect he is in for a big week.
Englishman Harry Hall has been a regular in these pages and looks the pick of the roughies again. Hall just does not have a bad tournament in him at the moment. In his last 11 tournaments, he has not finished worse than 28th and is in the positives in all 11 in true strokes gained putting.
Harry Hall is a great value bet amongst the three Englishmen to top the list. Hall leads the Tour in Putting Average while he ranks 2nd in Birdie or Better, 2nd in Par 4 Scoring and 6th in Scrambling.
Three mainland Europeans go this week. Aberg and Hovland are both inconsistent types and pushing for a Ryder Cup berth, Sepp Straka looks the value play.