Hoge made a hole-in-one at the eighth to win the annual Par-3 Contest Wednesday at Augusta National, going through the recently redesigned course in six-under par. LIV golfer and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, and Arnold Palmer Invitational winner, Kurt Kitayama, were second at five-under.

“[I will still] go out and try and play well,” Hoge said of the tournament proper. “We have some crazy weather here forecast [this week], so not really sure what to expect in that regard, but I guess good start here to the week today, so try to keep that going.”

Added up, there were five aces for the day. Watson had a hole-in-one on No. 4, while Ireland’s Seamus Power carded back-to-back aces at No. 8 and No. 9. Defending Masters champion Scottie Scheffler also had a hole-in-one at No. 9. His was a slam dunk. “I was trying to make [an ace] all day,’’ Scheffler said. “The slam dunk at the end was definitely very fun.’’

Added Power, who became the first player in the Par 3 Contest’s history to record two aces: “Obviously to get one was special, but to get the second one was a bit surreal. It’s obviously such a special tradition here on a Wednesday. I don’t know whether it carries into (Thursday’s opening round), but it’s certainly a lifelong memory that I’ll treasure.’’

Scheffler was glad to be doing anything but delivering the speech he’d rehearsed for the Champions Dinner he hosted Tuesday night. He was fresh off hosting the Champions Dinner, addressing the past champions.

“It was pretty emotional,’’ Scheffler said. “I got through my speech, though, which I was proud of. I trembled probably the whole time, but I got through it.’’

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But the Horned Frog doesn’t regret going out of his way to see that 65-7 thrashing at the hands of Georgia (Hey, it was a heckuva run by TCU just to get there). And he’s certainly not about to shoulder blame for the demise of the planet because of it.

That’s what someone on Twitter (kinda) tried to pin on Hoge, guilting him about his “carbon footprint” in making that journey to LA in between golf tournaments in Hawaii. But Hoge had the perfect comeback:

Yes the only reason @AmericanAir flew that day was to get me to the game. https://t.co/tgCxLYXb0u

— Tom Hoge (@HogeGolf) January 17, 2023

Boom. Roasted.

Did that guy think Tom Hoge was flying private? I mean, the guy has been cleaning up lately, including $840K for finishing T-3 the day before the title game. But we’re talking Tom Hoge here.

“I always fly coach,” Hogesaid recently. “That’s normal for me. I try to hang onto some of this money we make, right?”

Love this dude. So let’s all promise to leave Tom Hoge alone about his Horned Frogs, OK? And don’t come after him on Twitter because he plays better defense there than TCU did against Georgia. Whoops. Sorry, Tom. Starting … now!

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A graduate of TCU, Hoge took a red-eye flight to Los Angeles on Sunday night after firing a closing nine-under 64 and finishing T-3 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He did so to attend the Horned Frogs’ game against Georgia in the college football national championship game Monday night in Inglewood. After upsetting Michigan in the playoff semi-finals on New Year’s Eve, TCU were no match for the Bulldogs, losing 65-7.

“That was rough,” Hoge, who paid $945 for his game ticket, said on the practice putting green at Waialae. “It was exactly what you feared could happen. I actually feel bad for Georgia fans who bought tickets. That wasn’t what you want to see in a national title game.

“The only consolation,” he added, “was that it was so bad that it’s going to be hard for the Georgia guys here to talk … about it.”

After flying from Hawaii to Los Angeles for the natonal championship game, TCU alum Tom Hoge could only stand to watch three quarters of his team’s blowout loss to Georgia. Orlando Ramirez

Among the Georgia fans basking in the glow of the Bulldogs’ second straight national title was Russell Henley, who graduated from Georgia in 2011, the same year Hoge got his degree from TCU. Henley came into the interview room at the Sony Open because he lost to Hideki Matsuyama last year in a playoff and had won the event in 2013.

“Yeah, I guess at the end of the first half when we kept scoring in the last couple minutes, I just was like I can’t believe … like we already basically won,” Henley said. “I think we were up 38-7 at the half and their one play that they scored was kind of [after] a weird broken coverage pass. I would love for us to win the national championship by 60 every year, but I’m just still kind of surprised. I mean, that was crazy.”

Though the game drew the smallest viewership of a title contest since the start of the Bowl Championship Series in 1999 — a reported 17.223 million viewers tuned in — Henley stayed with it until the finish.

It was a different feeling than 10 days earlier when Georgia had to rally from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to edge Ohio State, 42-41, in the semi-finals. He watched until the end of that game, too, but nervously as the Buckeyes missed a 48-yard field goal as time expired.

“I thought they [the Buckeyes] played a better-looking game than we did,” he said. “I kind of had to accept that we were going to lose. We were losing by 12. We’re kind of sloppy, struggling, not looking good for us. I was kind of like, OK, we’re going to lose, [but] we kept chipping away. Then I got real nervous the last five minutes of the game. Like it was nerve-racking. Kind of feel like we stole one there for sure.”

Like Henley, fellow Bulldogs Brian Harman and Keith Mitchell, also playing this week in the Sony Open, watched the blowout to the final gun. Hoge, meanwhile, said he left SoFi Stadium at the end of the third quarter when the Georgia lead ballooned to 52-7.

“To top it all off, it was 50 degrees and pouring down rain when we tried to leave,” Hoge said. “I paid $300 for a two-minute Uber ride back to the hotel. I said: ‘Just get us out of here.’”

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The TCU graduate hopes to see — in person — his Horned Frogs win the college football national championship on Monday night against mighty Georgia and then, suitably inspired, capture the Sony Open in Hawaii a few days later on one of his favourite course, Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.

Could happen.

“There was really no way I could see missing the game, but the Sony Open, I love that golf course, so if I had any second thoughts, it was going to be about going to the game,” Hoge, 33, said. “I really want to go to Sony and play well, so I’m just getting ready to juggle all this and make sure I can do it. But I feel confident that I can, and I will hopefully have my game ready to go come Thursday at Sony.”

Hoge, competing this week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort, is catching a red-eye flight out of Maui on Sunday bound for Los Angeles. The championship game against No. 1-ranked Bulldogs, begins at 4.30pm PT Monday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, giving him time for a nap. Then he will catch a 9am flight on Tuesday to Oahu that is scheduled to land at 1.15pm HT, which might allow him to sneak in nine holes of practice.

“It probably sounds crazy,” said Hoge, a 2011 TCU grad who studied accounting and finance.

Nah. Sounds like fun.

“That semi-final game was unbelievable. Incredible atmosphere,” said Hoge, who attended the Horned Frogs’ 51-45 upset of Michigan in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve and then immediately booked his itinerary for the championship game. “I’m just hoping this is every bit as good and we have a chance at the end.”

Hoge put down $945 for a seat nine rows up located on about the 25- or 30-yard-line in the middle of the TCU section of SoFi Stadium. He can afford it. He’ll earn at least $201,000 at this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions — and likely more, as he sits T-12 through 36 holes among the 38 players in the field.

Though the Horned Frogs are 13-point underdogs, Hoge envisions a scenario in which they could pull off the upset over the Bulldogs. “We have to keep it close late and then Max Duggan [the TCU quarterback] leads us on a drive to steal it.”

If that were to happen, Hoge, who won his first PGA Tour title last year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, might be inspired to do something equally special at Waialae.

“My hope is that I’ll be riding high from a TCU win,” he said. “Nobody is giving us a chance. We’ll see if we can get it done.”

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By Dave Shedloski
PEBBLE BEACH — Two weeks ago at The American Express, Tom Hoge was playing so well he thought there was almost no way he could lose. After eight holes on Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he thought he was making too many mistakes to have a chance to win—especially when he was trying to chase down Jordan Spieth, who seemed to have destiny on his side.

Such is the world of tournament golf, not to mention the world spinning inside a player’s head, that the outcome is rarely predictable, the narrative constantly in flux. Up is down. Tables turn. A player whose last win was something called the Bobcat North Dakota Open breaks through for his first PGA Tour title on one of the game’s most iconic venues, and all it took was that lesson in losing and nine impeccable holes coming home.

While everyone else on a bunched leader board spun their wheels, Hoge surged, converting birdies on three of his final five holes for a two-stroke victory over Spieth and three over Beau Hossler. In a career-defining final 90 minutes, the 32-year-old made up four shots with a series of solid shots and clutch putts. It was as impressive as it was unexpected.

“It feels pretty good, almost in shock,” said Hoge after closing with a four-under 68 at Pebble Beach Golf Links and posting 19-under 268 to break through in his 203rd tour start. “It was a grind. But I hung in there really well.”

Just the third player from North Dakota to win a tour event, Hoge also carded 68 in the final round in Palm Springs but finished second by two shots as Hudson Swafford put on a furious rally. Hoge learned something from that experience. And he has learned from other recent experiences, too, having finished fourth or better in his last five starts.

For starters, being in contention helps.

“I would say that was probably the hardest night of sleep I had at Palm Springs, because I felt like I was playing great golf and I felt like it was my tournament to win,” said Hoge, who began that final round one stroke off the lead. “And I was very nervous on the first tee there, I felt great today. I felt very calm today. So it was a good day for me.”

It didn’t appear that a good day was developing when Hoge misjudged the wind at the short par-3 fifth hole, found the front bunker and chopped it around for a double bogey. He birdied Nos. 6 and 7, but another bogey at the eighth was felt like a crusher.

‘I was very nervous on the first tee there, I felt great today. I felt very calm today. So it was a good day for me.’ — Hoge on the difference between contending at the AmEx and at Pebble

“I missed some makeable putts on 1 and 2 right out of the gates,” said Hoge, who began this final round tied for the lead with Hossler and Andrew Putnam. “I birdied 6 and 7, I followed it up real well. But you play the first seven holes here at one under par you know you’re losing ground to the rest of the field. So, I felt like I was still a ways back at that point.

“And then the bogey on eight really kind of got to me again,” he continued. “So that’s where I felt like I just made too many mistakes early on to really be in the mix. And I was surprised, looking up, I think the first board that we saw there was walking down nine fairway over by 14 tee box. And I think there were four guys tied at 16 under, one shot ahead of me. So that was kind of a big boost for me to know that I was still right there in the mix with some hard holes to play ahead.”

At one point, seven players had at least a share of the lead on a day that was long and slow-moving but offered one more blast of glorious sun-splashed weather. The finish was all about the spotlight on Hoge—the one he stole from Spieth—who was attempting to convert his Saturday theatrics into his second victory on the Monterey Peninsula.

Winner here in 2017, Spieth broke from the pack with consecutive birdies on 12 and 13, and after his 63 on Saturday and the harrowing stroke he played at the eighth that he converted into a miracle par, the three-time major winner seemed poised for his 13th tour win. But he, too, stalled coming home.

“I’ll look back and kick myself for not winning this tournament just having the lead,” said Spieth, who closed with a 69, making bogey on the 17th and stumble home with a par on the 18th. “Looking back at where the pins were on the last four holes and say, you know, there’s one or two under there. … So that’s where I’ll be, but certainly if you told me I would have the lead on Sunday on the last Thursday I would have said I’ll take that.”

Hoge was simply unstoppable, though, hitting all nine greens in regulation on the back nine and finally getting putts to drop on 14 from 17 feet and on the 17th from 22 feet that put him two in front. The shot of the day came at 16, when he nearly holed out with a wedge he drew in from 142 yards—reminiscent of the Spieth’s hole-out on the same hole a year ago in the third round. Hoge’s stopped nine inches from the cup.

Hoge remembered that Spieth shot. He’ll remember his more, of course.

The victory was worth $1.566 million. Hoge won $10,000 for his Dakota title that he won on his home course, Fargo Country Club. Now Pebble Beach, where he is the first player to claim his maiden tour win here in 11 years, is becoming something of a home away from home after finishing 12th a year ago. He enjoyed it so much that he brought his family to Pebble Beach on vacation last summer. Paid the full greens fee of $575. He made out OK in the balance.

Orlando Ramirez
Tom Hoge celebrates with his wife Kelly after winning his first PGA Tour title in his 203rd tour start.

Hoge had been playing as much as possible of late to move into the top 50 in the world in time to earn a Masters exemption. Now he is 39th in the world but has an automatic invite thank to the victory. After 11 years of grinding as a pro, and eight seasons on tour, he is discovering himself and still making discoveries on the golf course, still digesting how “weird” things tend to work out.

“I think as I’m getting older now just, that’s golf, you know? Whether it’s the double bogey on 5 or making some of those nice putts, that there’s so many tough golf shots out here ahead,” he said wistfully. “Still, just keep your head down and keep going and you never know where you’re going to end up.”

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By Christopher Powers
Tom Hoge was likely not a name many had on the radar heading into this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, and probably not even heading into Saturday’s third round at Waialae Country Club.

A bogey-free six-under 64 on moving day has changed that quickly, vaulting the TCU alum to the top of the leader board at 16-under 194. He takes a one-stroke lead over Brian Harman and Patton Kizzire into Sunday’s final round in search of his first PGA Tour victory.

Hoge, 28, played solid all day, making four birdies on his opening 10 holes, followed by six straight pars to keep pace with the leaders. Then, at the par-3 17th, he dropped a birdie from 40 feet to get to 15 under, and added one more at the 18th to take the solo lead. While it’s not a spot he’s found himself in many times in his previous 75 starts on tour, he remained optimistic.

“Yeah, a new position. It’s a good one obviously. I’ve been close to the lead a few times in the fall. So a little bit to draw on there,” Hoge said. “Haven’t quite pulled it off yet. Just getting a little more belief in myself, and hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day for me.”

Close behind are Harman and Kizzire, who shot by far the most impressive round of the day, a six-under 64 that started with a double bogey on his opening hole. It wasn’t until the par-4 sixth when he finally made up ground, beginning a streak of five consecutive birdies that did more than just right the ship.

“I just want to stay patient until I get hot. That’s what I say at home. That’s what I say to my caddie,” Kizzire said. “I told him, after I made double, I said, Well, I’m not trying to not mess up anymore. Sometimes you go out there, and you’re just trying not to mess up, which is a terrible mindset, but guys do it. So I went ahead and messed up and took advantage of the free wheeling after that.”

He rode the momentum to three more birdies at the 14th, 16th and 18th to get to the clubhouse at 15-under 195, earning a spot in the final group on Sunday. A win would not only be the second of Kizzire’s career, but the second in his last four starts, the first coming at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in November.

As for Harman, his two-under 68 wasn’t the prettiest round of his week, but it was enough to remain in excellent position to win on Sunday. Doing so would give him a victory in back-to-back seasons and mark the third of his career.

Kyle Stanley is in solo fourth after firing a five-under 65 that featured four birdies, a bogey and an eagle at the par-5 18th. The former Clemson standout continues to enjoy somewhat of a career resurgence, one that’s already included two top-25s and a T-5 at the WGC-HSBC Champions thus far in the 2017-’18 season.

Six back is defending champion Justin Thomas, who carded a four-under 66 to get to 10-under 200.

Jordan Spieth posted his low round of the week on Saturday, a bogey-free four-under 66 to get to seven-under 203 for the tournament. That puts him nine back in a tie for 28th.

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By Brian Wacker
Slightly hungover on Tuesday afternoon, Steve Wheatcroft was in the Jacksonville airport getting ready to board a flight across the country to Napa, Calif. Tom Hoge was already there, after making a hotel reservation while driving to the airport a day earlier and arriving on the West Coast the night before.

Both were exhausted.

“I don’t think any of us like how the schedule works out,” said Wheatcroft, a 39-year-old journeyman who is headed back to the PGA Tour after locking up a card in Monday’s rain-delayed Web.com Finals finale, the Tour Championship, at Atlantic Beach Country Club and after a night of celebrating the achievement in what has been an injury-riddled year.

One season ends, another begins. This is the PGA Tour with a wraparound calendar. The 2016-’17 season ended just two weeks ago at East Lake. The 2017-’18 season starts Thursday at Silverado. In between was the Presidents Cup.

PGA Tour officials have long believed that if there’s a week on the calendar and a sponsor that is willing to put up the dough, they should put on the tournament, otherwise someone else would be willing to do it. At last check, no one says no to money.

The flip side to the argument is that players are wiped out and fans are fatigued (see: ratings, television; or “engagement,” if you prefer), with little break from the sport to anyone the opportunity to miss the game the way they do in other sports.

Both are valid arguments.

As for the never-ending schedule, in the past there has been a week, even two, between the end of the Web.com Tour Finals, where players are vying for PGA Tour cards, and the start of the next PGA Tour season. Not this year. For some reason, what amounts to the tour’s developmental league played its finale up against the Presidents Cup and also took a week off during the FedEx Cup Playoffs’ bye week.

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Hoge says he might trade practice for sleep in the days ahead of the PGA Tour season opener in Napa.

A lack of a break was also made worse by a Monday finish after bad weather hammered the Jacksonville area on Sunday. And it doesn’t look good, either, that 13 players who already had secured status on the big tour withdrew from the Web.com finale to make it to Napa with ample time to prepare.

“In a perfect world, you’d like to have one or two weeks off to try to get your bearings,” said Hoge, who added that he might “wing it” this week and trade practice rounds at Silverado for rest.

There are solutions, of course. Playing better would be one. Skipping the opener would be another, though that’s less of an option for guys who need to make as many starts as they can. This is life on tour for Web.com grads with low status.

Wheatcroft and Hoge are trying to see the positive through their tired eyes, though. It’s all about the bigger picture.

“If you told me 48 hours ago my worst problem would be trying to get a last-minute flight to Napa, there are worse problems,” said Wheatcroft.

Added 28-year-old Hoge: “I’m tired today for sure, but kind of looking at it as a positive because I’ve been playing well the last few weeks. I’m hoping to keep the momentum going.”

HEADLINERS IN NAPA
Phil Mickelson headlines the field this week in the PGA Tour’s season-opener in Napa, but there are a few other names worth noting and watching in the opener—most notably Sang-Moon Bae.

The 31-year-old South Korean hasn’t played since the 2015 Presidents Cup and returns this week after a government-required 21-month stint in the military. Bae was discharged last month and missed the cut in an Asian Tour event three weeks ago, shooting 74 in his first round in two years and finishing at seven over.

When the 2014-’15 season ended, Bae was ranked No. 85 in the world and by virtue of a win at the 2014 event in Napa would have been exempt for two more years. Instead, he’ll play this season on a one-year hardship exemption, which will give him status for the 2017-’18 season.

Keyur Khamar
Bae will play on the PGA Tour this year using a one-year hardship waiver.

Meanwhile, highly decorated former amateur and Stanford star Maverick McNealy will make his pro debut at Silverado. He’s joined by Beau Hossler, the former University of Texas standout who after spending this year on the Web.com Tour is playing his first official event as a PGA Tour member after finishing 23rd on the Web.com money list.

McNealy, who once considered foregoing a career on tour and whose father, Scott, co-founded Sun Microsystems, won the Haskins and Nicklaus Awards as the nation’s top collegiate player during his sophomore year at Stanford and was the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world earlier this year.

Hossler, on the other hand, last made big headlines at the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic, where as a 17-year-old he held the lead midway through the second round.

RORY’S LAST STAND
Speaking of momentum, Rory McIlroy found some at last week’s British Masters, where he finished three strokes behind winner Paul Dunne. McIlroy’s weekend 64-63 was the best closing stretch of his career and if nothing else should give him a confidence boost as he heads into the offseason following this week’s Dunhill Links Championship.

“It was just nice to have a chance to win a golf tournament,” McIlroy said after the runner-up, his best finish since finishing second in South Africa early in the year. “I think that was the big thing. The more chances I have like that I seem to play better. Mentally I’m just a little more engaged and switched on.

“I’m happy with how I played and don’t feel like I could have done much more,” McIlroy added.

Especially after Dunne closed with a 61 to claim his first European Tour title.

McIlroy can now head into a couple of months off on a high note, though, which is certainly a different feeling than he exited the FedEx Cup Playoffs with after being eliminated at the BMW Championship.

THREE THINGS I THINK I THINK
I think the conversation should be under way on how to fix the Presidents Cup. Yes, the U.S. was loaded. Yes, the International team played poorly. And yes, there seemed to be a lot of fun being had by both sides, which is a key component when it comes to spreading the game in an exhibition. But the event will become a joke from a competition standpoint if it remains so one-sided and with so many inherent advantages for the American team there’s nothing to indicate the winning streak will stop anytime soon. …

I think among the ideas of how to fix the Presidents Cup being kicked around, the one I like most is Brandel Chamblee’s suggestion that the home team picking the order of play. While we’re at it, shorten the event to three, maybe even two, days and reduce the total points even further. This would, I think, make things more competitive without sacrificing any integrity of the event or its participants. …

I think that as much as no one enjoyed the rain and wind washing away Sunday at the Web.com Tour Championship, it worked out OK for Wheatcroft, who despite the poor conditions, hit the range anyway, found something in his swing (he was having trouble staying down and into his left knee on his follow through) and played what he called a “stress-free” final round in which he shot four-under 67. Funny how golf works sometimes.

WHO I LIKE THIS WEEK
As much as Mickelson is the best player in the field this week in Napa and is feeling “re-focused” and “energized,” much of that likely applied to his run up and through the Presidents Cup. I like a different kind of momentum instead. Sam Saunders is coming off a week in which he shot 59 and finished second on the Web.com Tour. He’ll ride that all the way to his first win on tour.

Getty Images
Sam Saunders

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