East Lake's Nine Reversal: Heresy Or Overdue?

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The AJC's Chris Vivlamore considers the sensitivity of reversing the East Lake nines for this week's Tour Championship and given the course's traditional routing, says there are concerns about upsetting the legacy of Bobby Jones.

Why, I'm not entirely sure, given that Jones did not route the course or declare its design sacred in any writings. And as Viviamore points out, Jones and MacKenzie flipped the nines at Augusta National early on because sometimes it just makes sense.

In the case of East Lake, the switch means the island green 6th becomes the 15th and the reachable par-5 9th is the finishing hole. So while the previous configuration did produce it share of moments, it's hard to say that the old sequencing was particularly sacred.

Viviamore writes and quotes tournament chairman Rob Johnston:

"It came down to two things," Johnston said. "One, we wanted more hospitality venues and more friendly patron viewing experiences. We think it does this by reversing the nines. The second thing is, if you just look at raw scoring, there is very little volatility on the old Nos. 16, 17 and 18 versus what we think the new Nos. 15-18 will be. It's the drama, the excitement and the fan experience."

Finishing on a par-5 likely will bring more leaderboard movement with the tournament on the line. Since 1998, the former 18th hole had a scoring average of 3.169 (plus-.160) and yielded zero eagles and 153 birdies. The new 18th had a scoring average of 4.677 (minus-.323) and yielded 16 eagles and 700 birdies.

Excitement has never been a word associated with East Lake, so why not?

Euro Ryder Cup Team After Italy: Willett Up, Westwood Down

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The Italian Open provided a final tune-up for some European Ryder Cuppers and one of the team's biggest questions marks had his best week in months.

Danny Willett played his final 69 holes without a bogey, finishing second.

There was this roundup posted by the European Tour of other team members. Everyone flashed moments of decent golf except Lee Westwood, who missed the cut.

Westwood may have a brewing distraction (thanks reader David). According to the Daily Mail's Amie Gordon, the Lee Westwood School is being countersued by families who were sued for leaving early.

Westwood is cutting ties with the school, according to the report.

It was a great finish in Italy, here is Francesco Molinari wrapping up his home nation's Open on the last hole in grand fashion:

 

Congratulations @chiccogolf 🏆🏆

A video posted by European Tour (@europeantour) on Sep 18, 2016 at 10:01am PDT

 

The Bubba Backtracking Begins! To Practice With Team USA

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I'm not sure if Davis Love finally realized that he could go to Hazeltine National with no headaches or a giant, throbbing one, it seems he's warming to Bubba Watson as his last captain's pick.

Tim Rosaforte reported that the world no. 7 and third highest-ranked American will join six members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team for a pre-Ryder Cup Hazeltine practice session this weekend.

Love said Watson is "the opposite of that," Rosaforte reported, and is a popular presence in the team room. "He's quirky, but so is Phil [Mickelson,]" Rosaforte said Love told him.

"I told Bubba after the Olympics, remember, there's a pick after the Tour Championship," Love said he told Watson.

That's a weird one given that Watson finished ahead of Rickie Fowler, who has already been picked.

The full report:

Love does have quite the notecard collection to stare at Bubba's name amidst the options: