What a 24 hours for Tom Hoge.
The No. 33rd ranked golfer in the world just barely made the cut at the 2023 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Friday, notching a birdie on No. 17 to get him right on the number to advance to the weekend.
On Saturday, he etched himself into history at one of the most notoriously difficult courses on the PGA Tour. Hoge carded a course record round of 62 with 10 birdies during a bogey-free round and broke a tie at 63 held by nine players.
Dustin Johnson famously tied the course record at 63 last year with an eagle on No. 18. Hoge tied the record through 17 holes and easily cleaned up for birdie on his 18th to finish the day after starting on the back nine. That moved him from two-over par on the tournament to eight-under and a tie for eighth place heading into Sunday in the richest event on the Tour schedule.
There’s having a solid moving day, and then there’s rocketing up 57 spots on the leaderboard as Hoge did.
WHAT A ROUND 🤯
Tom Hoge birdies the last to shoot 10-under 62, the lowest score ever recorded at @THEPLAYERSChamp
📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/JT6NgzdrH0
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) March 11, 2023
History for Hoge.@HogeGolf has broken the course record with a 62 @THEPLAYERSChamp. pic.twitter.com/X9Jhz4HoOC
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 11, 2023
9th birdie for the day for @HogeGolf 🔥
With one hole to play, he needs a birdie or better to break the course record @THEPLAYERSChamp. pic.twitter.com/mNMDfjCbNu
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 11, 2023
The 33-year-old strung together birdies at hole Nos. 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16 and 18, scoring 31 on both the front and back nine. Before Saturday, Hoge had never shot better than 66 in any round at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course.
He’s walked off the course +6600 at BetMGM to win the event and claim the $4.5 million prize.
Regardless of whether or not he’s able to pull it off, he’ll forever be known as a legend at an iconic stop each year on the Florida swing.
