TCU product Tom Hoge rallies past Jordan Spieth to win first PGA Tour event
Tom Hoge has been knocking on the door of a breakthrough victory on the PGA Tour of late. That door finally opened on Sunday at Pebble Beach.
Hoge played terrific golf on the back nine, birdying four holes and passing three-time major champion Jordan Spieth on the leader board to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday afternoon. Hoge finished with a 19-under 268 for the tournament, two strokes better than Spieth (17-under).
“It’s fun. I haven’t won, I won a couple of mini-tour events since 2011 when I turned professional, but nothing like this,” Hoge told reporters afterward.
Yes, there’s nothing like winning a full-fledged PGA Tour event for a professional golfer. It came with a $1.566 million check for Hoge. It pushed him to second in the FedEx Cup standings and will do wonders for him in the official world golf rankings. It earned him PGA Tour status through 2024. Oh, and he punched his ticket to the Masters as he’ll make his debut at Augusta National in April.
For Hoge, this day felt like only a matter of time. He’s climbed up PGA Tour leader boards more consistently each season since becoming a full-time member in 2015. He’s played with Tiger Woods on a couple of Sundays. Just two weeks ago, he had a runner-up finish at the American Express.
Hoge put himself in position Sunday on the back nine. He made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17, the first player to do that in the final round and win the event since Mark O’Meara in 1997. Spieth, meanwhile, bogeyed No. 17 and ended up two strokes back of Hoge.
“He’s somebody that I knew when he was on the heels I needed to make birdies,” Spieth said of Hoge. “He wasn’t going to falter. ... So happy for him, very happy for him, a little upset I didn’t shoot even par today, but it is what it is.”
Hoge becomes the first TCU player to win on the PGA Tour since J.J. Henry won the 2015 Barracuda Championship. Hoge, a Fargo, North Dakota, native who lives in Fort Worth, played at TCU from 2007-11.
TCU golf coach Bill Montigel talked about Hoge to the Star-Telegram last summer, saying: “What makes Tom really good is he’s just not afraid. He’s not afraid to go low. When it’s his week, he can really put some low numbers on the board.”
Hoge shot 63-69-68-68 this week to win at one of the most prestigious courses in the world.
“So many great champions here at Pebble Beach,” Hoge said. “For me, we took a vacation here last summer I brought my dad, brother and wife Kelly out to play. So Pebble Beach is a special spot for us as well.
“It’s a spot for me that has really grown on me the last two years since we played the U.S. Open here in 2019. I’ve never had a lot of success around this golf course, felt like I kind of figured out a little bit. I felt like it was a golf course that really suits my game well kind of around that time with the U.S. Open and now I played well here for two years in a row.”
Hoge is scheduled to play in the WM Phoenix Open next week.
This story was originally published February 6, 2022 at 8:32 PM.
