“I like that it gives you options” – Rory McIlroy weighs in on the restoration done at East Lake ahead of Tour Championship

Rory McIlroy is playing at the Tour Championship this week at East Lake Golf Course from August 29 to September 1. The Irish golfer is already done with his first round at the East Lake Golf Course and is tied at tenth with Taylor Pendrith, Russell Henley, and Patrick Cantlay.

During the post-round press conference, McIlroy was asked to share his thoughts on the course restoration. In reply, Rory McIlroy appreciated the course being restored and also lauded the craftsman (Andrew Green) who did the work on making it perfect. Citing examples of Andrew’s restoration works at other fields, such as Congressional and Oak Hill, Mcllroy said (via ASAP Sports):

“I love the restoration. I love the golf course. It's probably six months away from being perfect just because of the firmness of the greens. But I've always liked Andrew Green's work. I like what he did at Congressional, I like what he did at Oak Hill. I like some of the other things I haven't been there physically but I've seen. I like that the ball repels off the greens. I like that it gives you options,” Rory stated ( ASAP Sports).

"I think overall, I don't think the course plays that much differently apart from the par-5, 14th, but I really like what he's done, and I like golf courses that sort of stretch out the playing areas and expand the playing areas a little bit. I think he's done a great job,” he added.

After the completion of the first round, Rory McIlroy will tee off at 12:49 pm E.T alongside Justin Thomas for the second round.

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What are the standings of Rory McIlroy and others after the first round of the Tour Championship?

Rory McIlroy is in tenth place at 6-under and is ten shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler, who's at 16-under. Collin Morikawa is in second place and Wyndham Clark is in fourth, who's one shot behind Collin. Billy Horschel is currently at the bottom of the standings after shooting 1-over. Here's the leaderboard after the first round of the Tour Championship:

1 Scottie Scheffler -16

T2 Collin Morikawa -9

T2 Xander Schauffele -9

T4 Adam Scott -8

T4 Sam Burns -8

T4 Wyndham Clark -8

T4 Keegan Bradley -8

T4 Hideki Matsuyama -8

9 Sahith Theegala -7

T10 Taylor Pendrith -6

T10 Russell Henley -6

T10 Patrick Cantlay -6

T10 Rory McIlroy -6

T14 Justin Thomas -5

T14 Aaron Rai -5

T14 Matthieu Pavon -5

T14 Shane Lowry -5

T14 Sungjae Im -5

T14 Ludvig Åberg -5

T20 Sepp Straka -4

T20 Robert MacIntyre -4

T20 Viktor Hovland -4

T20 Byeong Hun An -4

T20 Tony Finau -4

25 Akshay Bhatia -3

T26 Tom Hoge -2

T26 Tommy Fleetwood -2

28 Chris Kirk -1

29 Christiaan Bezuidenhout E

30 Billy Horschel +1