By Jeff Wilson
Frogs Today senior writer
Tom Hoge finished his TCU career in 2011, qualified for the Korn Ferry Tour in 2012, and became a full-time member of the PGA Tour in 2015.
He had played in 203 events entering Thursday and won more than $8.6 million. He’s had a nice career, but it was missing one thing — a PGA win.
He finally checked that off Sunday in event No. 204.
Hoge made seven birdies, including four in the back nine, to rally past Jordan Spieth for a two-stroke victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Hoge overcame a double-bogey on the par-3 fifth.
Hoge, who just missed his first win two weeks ago with a second-place finish at the American Express, is second in the FedEx Cup standings, secured a two-year Tour exemption through 2024, and earned a spot at the Masters.
“It feels pretty good. Almost a little bit of shock,” he said on CBS after the win was secured. “It’s been so long since I’ve won something I almost forgot how to celebrate on 18.”
Hoge made back-to-back birdies at the par-4 16th and the famed par-3 17th, becoming the first player to do that in the final round and win the event since Mark O’Meara in 1997. The runners-up that day were Tiger Woods and David Duval.
Hoge, a two-time winner at TCU from 2007-11, said that he felt comfortable all day en route to a 19-under 268.
“I’ve always gotten myself in position and just felt uncomfortable on Sundays out there,” he said. “Finally, today I felt great the whole day and felt calm over those putts you have to make down the stretch.”
Jeff Wilson, jeff@frogstoday.com
