Shane Lowry admits he is "embarrassed" to be belatedly making his Tour Championship debut, but feels the revamped venue means he is on a level playing field with his more experienced rivals.
A victory in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Rory McIlroy helped Lowry qualify for the PGA Tour's season finale for the first time, an event McIlroy has won on three occasions.
However, East Lake has undergone a significant restoration project since Viktor Hovland’s victory 12 months ago, to the extent that Hovland admitted he was shocked at how the course "looks nothing like it used to".
"It’s nice to be here," Lowry said.
"It’s almost embarrassing that I haven’t been here. I’ve been a pro a long time. It’s always a goal at the start of the year to be at East Lake and thankfully this year I got to fulfil it.
"Everybody keeps saying how different it is, but it’s obviously just a new golf course for me, so I don’t really know anything different, which is great.
"It’s great to hear the lads moaning about it inside the locker room and I’m happy with what I see. It’s going to play quite difficult. If you miss fairways you’re going to struggle to make pars, and it’s going to be hard to get the ball close to the pins.
"I think I’m on a level playing field with the guys that have played here… like Rory has played here something like 12 or 14 times. He’s obviously won here three times.
"When you’re coming back and it’s the same venue they do have one up on you if it’s the same golf course, but it’s a completely different golf course. So I feel like I’m on a level playing field with those guys."
Lowry is not on a level playing field when it comes to the tournament itself however, due to the controversial scoring system first adopted in 2019.
As the player with the most FedEx Cup points from the regular season, Masters champion Scottie Scheffler starts the week on 10 under par, with US PGA and Open Championship winner Xander Schauffele eight under.
Lowry will tee off on three under and joked: "I give shots to my friends every day at home, but my friends are not Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele.
"It is new, but a good start the first day and you’re back in the tournament.
"In my head I’m seeing it as like a five-round event that I’ve got three 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."
Scheffler has topped the FedEx Cup standings heading into the Tour Championship in each of the last two years, but has relinquished his two-stroke lead on both occasions.
McIlroy overturned a six-shot deficit in the final round at East Lake in 2022, while Viktor Hovland wiped out Scheffler’s advantage by the end of the first round 12 months ago.
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