Tom Hoge started his third round on the 10th tee with no illusions that he was going to contend at the 2023 Players Championship. Eighteen holes later, and he’s just a handful of strokes back of the lead following a course record 10-under 62 at TPC Sawgrass.
Hoge went out in 31 on the back nine, which wasn’t that notable given everyone, it seemed, was going out in 31. However, when he birdied three of his first four on the front nine, something special started to unfold. After three pars, it looked like the record of 63 shared by nine different players was going to be safe.
But Hoge made a 24-foot putt on the tough, par-3 8th hole and gave himself 10 feet for birdie and the record on the par-5 9th. He put it right in the center of the cup.
Hoge shot 78 in the first round and looked to be way out of contention going into Friday’s second round. He had to birdie the tough par-3 17th just to shoot 68 in the second round to get his score to 2 over. The players at 2 over were right on the cut line, and Hoge didn’t know he would make the until the second round concluded on Saturday morning. Now, after the 10-under score, he’s in the mix to win the golf tournament.
“Such a weird day,” Hoge told NBC. “At one point I was booking a flight to head home this afternoon because it was looking like I was going to miss the cut. Perfect conditions out here at Sawgrass, I was just trying to freewheel it and have some fun. I hit it pretty well and made some putts. A great day.”
A great day, indeed.
Hoge is, as they say, a full-time hitter. One of the more underrated iron players in the world, he led the field in that category on Saturday in the record-setting performance.
NBC
To be fair, this is the easiest (by far) TPC Sawgrass has played all week, and Hoge didn’t even come close to the strokes gained record Ken Duke set back in 2016. Still, it’s an amazing performance at an opportune time and has put Hoge in position to contend for the championship and earn himself a nice little check come Sunday afternoon.
And if he comes close to repeating it? Well, he’s going to be your 2023 Players champion.