ATLANTA -- East Lake Golf Club is great in nearly every sense of the word.

The course is beautiful. The holes are demanding. The rough is thick and the greens aren't slow.

But it had one fatal flaw.

The final hole on this golf course -- and in turn the final hole of the PGA Tour season -- was a par 3. A 235-yard uphill par 3 with water that only comes into play for hackers (I cleared it both times, thank you).

Ending on a par 3 is one thing. Most courses don't do this. It's a neat little quirk out here at East Lake and I support quirky. I like things that are different and support people who try them.

The only problem is, that hole is boring. For the hole that ends the TOUR Championship, the "Super Bowl" of the PGA Tour as they like to say, it's just a par fest.

At best.

"It's a little tough to force anything on a 240-yard par 3," said Jason Day. "It's very rare do you ever see a shot go smack bang right next to the hole."

Not even the pros can stick their 2 or 3-irons.

There's no roars here. Nothing interesting. Nothing exciting. Golf's big finish deserved a better finish. For a tournament that also decides the winner of the Fed Ex Cup and the $10 million dollar bonus, golf fans deserve something exciting.

The answer to that is a reachable par-5 with water.

Good thing East Lake has one of those right in front of the club house.

"The possibility of somebody making an eagle or possibly a double (bogey)," said Paul Casey, "I like that."

After years of rumors, the PGA Tour and club decided to reroute the course and flip the front nine with the back nine. Making the courses two signature holes much more important.

The headliner is the old par 5 ninth hole now becoming the finisher. On Thursday it will play 600 yards. Water doesn't guard the green, but it does come into play for an errant layup. Bunkers guard the green so when a player goes for it in two, there's plenty of punishment.

And plenty of reward.

"You'll see a lot of birdies and maybe some eagles," said top seed Dustin Johnson. "So that will be a lot of fun,"

It certainly will be for Johnson who leads the Tour in driving distance at 315 yards.

The hope here though is that on Sunday, with tournament and season championships on the line, everyone can reach this final hole, bringing every type of score into play.

Any player down as much as three shots, still feels like they have a chance if they can hit a good 240-yard shot over water and sand to a small green.

No pressure. High drama. Yay.

It also ends the golf tournament right in front of East Lake's beautiful club house. It will look fantastic on TV and that's all that matters anyway.

This change at the last has been talked about quite a bit, but one of the nice side-effects to this reversal is East Lake's own "island green" par now becomes the 15th hole.

Most people don't know East Lake actually has an island green of its own. It's not early as famous as the 17th at Sawgrass because it didn't matter as much so early in the round.

To be fair, it's more like a peninsula, but it deserves better placement and now we have it. Players will have to carry 200 yards of water to hit a very small target, with the championship hanging in the balance.

That is probably the last tough hole on the golf course.

"Instead of having three par 3 holes," said defending champion Jordan Spieth, "you finish with three holes you can make birdie."

On the flip side, when you flip the hard holes with the easy ones to finish, the start becomes that much tougher.

"You have to be solid right off the gates," said Augusta State grad Patrick Reed, who is the second seed here. "Because the (old) 10th and 11th are not easy. (The third) is kind of a breather. Then it picks back up from there."

The change seems like a no-brainer and from players and fans alike, most approve. I've heard some complaints about the lake of general admission seating from the old 18th to the new one, but that's about it.

"I'm hoping what will happen is it gives us a little bit more fireworks at the end," said Day.

This is a great event that deserves anything to draw attention. It's spot on the calendar keeps in buried in the sports culture, because football kills all in its path.

But hopefully this new path to a title will help, at least just a little bit.