Golf-East Lake set for record crowds after eerily quiet start

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

ATLANTA, Sept 12 (Reuters) - East Lake Golf Club has been eerily quiet in the build-up to this week's Tour Championship with fans barred from the course until Thursday's first round.

The greens on the par-70 layout were damaged by record August heat and a severe drought and tournament organisers took the precaution of cutting back on unnecessary traffic.

Wednesday's pro-am competition was cancelled and three of the greens were off-limits to the players in the practice rounds to help with the recovery of the putting surfaces.

All that will change on Thursday, however, when record crowds of 25,000 are expected to watch the opening round of the final event in the inaugural FedExCup playoff series.

Tickets have been sold out for all four days at East Lake, the tournament's first sell-out since Phil Mickelson beat Tiger Woods by two strokes to win the 2000 edition.

"Ever since the FedExCup was announced and we were designated as the final playoff event, we've seen a tremendous increase in attention and interest in the Tour Championship," tournament director Todd Rhinehart said in a statement.

"Now we have the top 30 players of the season ready to tee off and compete for not only the tournament trophy but also the distinction of becoming the first FedExCup Champion."

World number one Woods is red-hot favourite to clinch his seventh title of the year after moving to the top of the points standings with victory at the BMW Championship on Sunday.