Hoge finishes third, aims for FedEx Cup

By the time they finished Sunday’s Sony Open in Hawaii, Tom Hoge was halfway home to Fargo, N.D.

The 28-year-old North Carolina native was looking for his first win on the PGA Tour when the par-4 16th ended his plans. Holding a one-shot lead with three to play, Hoge hit his approach out of the fairway into the back bunker on a downslope and then left his third in there as well.

By the time he was through, he had a double- bogey six that dropped him one off the pace. He had makable birdies at 17 and 18 to join Patton Kizzire and James Hahn in the marathon six-hole playoff finally won by Kizzire.

But he missed them both.

Finishing alone in third for his best tour finish, Hoge was philosophical about this missed opportunity, hanging around for a while to answer reporters’ questions before making plans for his next stop on tour. Hoge’s main goal this year is to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs. His showing here at Waialae Country Club didn’t hurt that long-term goal.

“With the start in the fall that I was off to and now this, this sets me up a lot better for the rest of the year and hopefully make the FedEx Cup playoffs,” Hoge said. “That’s step No. 1 for me. More so just the confidence I had to play in the final group and play well today. Take that forward and hopefully keeping myself up there.”

Hoge held the 54-hole lead by one shot over Kizzire and Brian Harman. He carded a birdie at No. 2 to give him a two-shot lead, bogeyed the difficult eighth, then birdied the ninth to make the turn at 17 under, the eventual score needed to make the playoff.

A birdie at the 12th dropped him back to 18 under where he remained over the next three holes, before the dreaded 6 he carded at the 16th. His even-par 70 was almost good enough to carry him into sudden- death. But Hahn’s blistering 62 and Kizzire’s 68 were the kind of scores you need in the final round to win.

Still, Hoge wasn’t disappointed with his overall performance.

“I played well,” he said. “I would have liked a few more putts to go in early on in the day. Ultimately, it’s a swing on 8 (where he bogeyed) and a swing on 16 (where he doubled), same ones. I was kind of in between yardages on both of them.

“I was trying to play kind of a low draw to get to the back pins there and just kind of flipped to the bottom left. I was in a tough spot on 16 in the bunker there. I hit two good shots on 17 and 18 to give myself a chance. Hit good putts, just didn’t quite find the bottom. That’s how it goes.”

Hoge believes he’s in the middle of a process that will take him to where he wants to go. Granted, his final three holes at 2 over were a disappointment. But if you continue to learn as you go, it’s possible to improve and eventually get that first victory.

“It’s kind of just building on things,” Hoge said. “I played pretty well, and I felt like today I had pretty good beliefs about myself that I could get it done. Felt good the whole way, so, for sure (this experience) helps. The next time you get back, it will make it a little easier. I would like to have those swings back (on Nos. 8 and 16).”