Tom Hoge cancels flights, breaks course record, wants a cheeseburger
Tom Hoge has already canceled two flights this week.
After opening The Players Championship in 6-over 78, Hoge fired up his American Airlines app and booked a 2:59 p.m. ET Friday flight from Jacksonville to Dallas. Hoge followed with a second-round 68 to claw back to 2 over, right on the cut line. With thunderstorms suspending Round 2 for the evening, Hoge, not knowing if he’d be headed home or not, changed his flight to 2:59 p.m. Saturday.
Hoge ended up making the cut on the number, re-booked again, and then went out and broke the TPC Sawgrass course record with a 10-under 62.
“I felt like I made some really nice swings coming down the stretch [Friday] when I was right on the cut line … so I felt like my game was in good order, as silly as that is to say, that I could have missed the cut,” Hoge said. “But I was excited to get back out there once I did have a tee time.”
Starting his third round on the back nine, Hoge didn’t card a single bogey while netting 10 birdies. He rolled in a 15-footer for birdie at No. 11 before leaving his tee shot at the drivable par-4 12th just 7 feet from the hole and two-putting for another birdie. He capped his first nine with birdies at Nos. 15, 16 and 18.
Four of his five second-nine birdies came from outside of 9 feet, including a 24-footer at the par-3 eighth.
Hoge’s 62 broke the previous course record of 63 held by nine players.
“I didn’t even know it was a course record until after we got done in the scoring there,” Hoge said. “Today was going to be the day to do it if you were going to out here because it was soft with little wind, so you felt like you could make birdies and keep trying to make birdies. So, just felt fortunate and tried to take advantage of it the best I could.”
Full-field scores The Players Championship
From almost missing the cut to T-8 and six shots off the lead entering Sunday’s final round, Hoge was feeling hungry after his third round – literally.
“It’s actually my complaint here this week is the food is too healthy in player dining,” Hoge said, inciting some laughter. “There’s a QR code for us; I logged that complaint. They need some food like the rest of the obese people in America eat. I’m not much of a breakfast guy so it was lunch before the round and a lot of vegetables and stuff. I’m pretty hungry right now.
“I’m ready for a cheeseburger or something.”