It was a record-setting win for Hodges.
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Lee Hodges maintained all week he had nothing to lose at TPC Twin Cities.
Coming into the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota, Hodges sat 74th in the FedEx Cup standings. With only two weeks left until the playoffs began, it was now or never for the 28-year-old to make a run.
He did just that in record fashion.
Hodges ran away with the 3M Open for his first PGA Tour title, leading wire-to-wire and finishing at 24-under 260, a new 3M Open tournament scoring record. During the week, he set the 36- and 54-hole scoring marks and will move to 33rd in the FedEx Cup standings, on the cusp on earning a spot at East Lake for the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
“Yeah, just icing on the cake, man,” Hodges said of setting the scoring record. “It was a dream week from start to finish. I couldn’t be happier. For whatever accolades came with it, I couldn’t be happier.
“Honestly, from Monday to Sunday I played really good golf, even in practice rounds. The pro-am, I made a bunch of birdies, and then I made a bunch of birdies in the tournament with not many bogeys, so it was just one of those weeks.”
On Sunday, Hodges shot 4-under 67. He ended up winning by seven. His lead was five heading into the final round. J.T. Poston tripled the closing par 5, dropping him into a tie for second at 17 under with Martin Laird and Kevin Streelman.
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Hodges is the first player to go wire-to-wire on Tour since Poston did last year at the John Deere Classic. The 67 he carded on Sunday was his worst round of the week, and he still increased his lead thanks to Poston’s misfortune on the final hole. The triple and T-2 finish cost Poston $260,000 compared to a solo second.
The shot of the day came on the par-5 12th, when Hodges hit his approach from 257 yards out to 3 feet for an eagle, his second of the day. On the par-5 sixth, he rolled in an 11-footer for his first eagle. He said both shots just seemed like things that happen when a player wins.
“I had an absolute — the exact same number both times and in the exact same wind,” Hodges said. “I just had to hold a little 3-wood. And it was 257 both times. I just had to get it up in the air and hold it, and I did it pretty well.”
The second eagle essentially put the tournament away, as if he hadn’t done it already. Hodges was 1 over in the five holes between eagles, and his lead went from seven strokes down to five in that span. However, he had a six-stroke lead with six holes to play and cruised to the clubhouse.
Alabama men’s golf coach Jay Seawell flew into the Twin Cities on Sunday to watch Hodges, who played for the Crimson Tide from 2016-18.
“I didn’t know anybody was flying in except for my agent,” Hodges said. “Everybody else was a surprise. I looked up on 18 when I was about to putt and saw him.”
Beau Hossler had the round of the day, tying the tournament scoring record with a 9-under 62 that included eight straight birdies from No. 9-16. He shot 29 on the back nine to finish at 13 under for the week.
“Honestly, kind of a weird, kind of a weird thing to shoot so low on Sunday and have absolutely no chance of winning the tournament,” Hossler joked. “A unique experience, but very thrilled to shoot that low.”
Defending champion Tony Finau shot 1-under 70 on Sunday and finished T-7.
However, the day belonged to Hodges, who on the 18th hole hit his drive right and had to lay up. He then hit a wedge to a slope behind the flag and nearly holed the approach for another eagle.
He settled for a tap-in par, and the celebration began.
“My caddie was telling me on 18, I honestly didn’t even think about it, we get to play Augusta next year,” Hodges said. “That’s something else. That was probably the coolest thing I heard all day.”
