Hodges completely nailed the line on his putt only for the ball to sit on the lip. And sit. For 35 seconds total.
Technically speaking, a pro golfer on the PGA Tour can only let his ball sit on the lip of the cup for 10 seconds before they are forced to use an extra stroke to knock it in.
A player, and their playing partner, are allowed to determine a “reasonable” amount of time before starting the 10-second clock.
Lee Hodges was paired up with Jordan Spieth on Saturday at the PGA Championship and that rule was tested during a wild putt for par on the 17th green.
Hodges completely nailed the line on his putt only for the ball to sit on the lip. And sit. And sit. And sit. For 35 seconds total. Then, and only then, did it decide to give into gravity and fall into the cup.
But after consideration, Hodges was penalized for waiting too long.
The PGA Championship Rules Committee issued the following statement:
“During play of the 17th hole, Hodges played his first putt to the edge of the hole and after having walked up to the hole, behind his ball, he then waited more than 10 seconds. The ball then fell into the hole, after the 10-second limit provided for in the Rule. As a result, Hodges received a one-stroke penalty, under Rule 13.3a, and the ball was holed.”
We promise this ball drops into the cup eventually
Update: The PGA wasn’t playing the waiting game with Hodges and assessed him a one-stroke penalty.
Original: Technically speaking, a pro golfer on the PGA Tour can only let his ball sit on the lip of the cup for 10 seconds before they are forced to use an extra stroke to knock it in.
But there is a bit of wiggle room in Rule 13.3a of the Tour handbook. A player, and their playing partner, are allowed to determine a “reasonable” amount of time before starting the 10-second clock.
Lee Hodges should be thankful he was paired up with Jordan Spieth on Saturday at the PGA Championship as that reasonable threshold was met and then some during a wild putt for par on the 17th green.
Hodges completely nailed the line on his putt only for the ball to sit on the lip. And sit. And sit. And sit. For 35 seconds total. Then, and only then, did it decide to give into gravity and fall into the cup.
Lee Hodges was assessed a one-stroke penalty in Round 3 of the #PGAChamp for waiting past the 10-second limit. https://t.co/V1RWgVgxgf
Tom Hoge and Seamus Power know they may have let a better chance at winning the tournament slip away.
Tom Hoge and Seamus Power have played well enough through three rounds of The American Express to be among the leaders at the tournament. But both Hoge and Power know they may have let a better chance at winning the tournament slip away Saturday afternoon.
“I would have liked a few more for sure, but there were quite a few tough holes out there,” Hoge said after a 4-under 68 that included just one birdie and no bogeys in his final 11 holes. “A couple tough par-3 that we had to deal with, a few tough tee shots, and there’s just enough wind and it’s moving around just enough that it was kind of tough to get the right yardage on all the approach shots coming in.”
With Hoge leading at 17 under and Power at 16 under in the clubhouse, they could only watch as Paul Barjon and Lee Hodges shot low scores on the tougher Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West on a breezy day to pass them up.
Playing together in the last group of the day at the Stadium Course, Hodges regained a share of the lead he had in the first round with an 8-under 64. Barjon shot 65, and the pair finished the day at 18-under 198. Hoge is alone in third at 199.
“It was tough early and (the wind) kind of died on our back nine a little bit,” said Hodges, who played his final nine holes in 6 under. “It was off and on, but it was a good wind for, like the easy holes were playing a little easier but the hard holes were hard. So you just had to make a couple pars and then get to those downwind holes.”
Hodges opened the tournament with a 62 at La Quinta, but was hitting the ball just as well Saturday, he said.
“It was a great day. Hit the ball really well. I know it was really nice to see some putts fall on that back nine,” Hodges said. “I made three nice putts in a row there from like 10 to 12. And then just kind of really hit some quality shots coming in to give myself some easy birdies.”
Playing side by side with Hodges, who is ranked 312th in the world to Barjon’s 313th, Barjon played the final nine holes Saturday in 4 under to get a share of the lead. A rookie on the PGA Tour, Barjon is looking for his first win on tour, as are six of the top 10 players on the leader board. Barjon also played his way into the final threesome Sunday, where he will play with Hodges for the fourth consecutive day.
Paul Barjon plays his shot from the ninth tee during the third round of the American Express golf tournament at Peter Dye Stadium Course. Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
“It was great playing with Lee again for the third day. He played really good the first day, really kind of set the tone by making pretty much everything he looked at on the green,” Barjon said. “So that’s always good to see and just kind of get inspired by that and trying to make as many putts as we could the last three days and we made quite a few. So we’re going to try to keep it going tomorrow.”
The tricky back nine at La Quinta Country Club and trickier winds that hit the tournament Saturday prevented Hoge and Power from separating themselves from the field late in the day.
Taking advantage of the early scoring holes on the front nine at La Quinta, Hoge was 4 under through seven holes Saturday and Power was 6 under through six holes. But Hoge was just 1 under in his closing 11 holes and Power was even through his last final 12 holes to finish at 16 under and alone in fourth place.
“It was an interesting round. It was very fun on the front there,” Power said. “It was one of those rounds you just kind of made everything I looked at for an hour and a half. But, yeah, had a little bit of a hiccup there, three-putted 9 from really nowhere at all and didn’t take advantage of 11 or 13.”
[vertical-gallery id=778202972]
That allowed other golfers playing on the tougher Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West to stay in touch with the leaders. Six golfers, including 2017 American Express champion Hudson Swafford and former British Open champion Francesco Molinari, are at 15 under with one round to play. The others are Harold Varner III, Harry Higgs, Lanto Griffin and Cameron Young.
Some of the biggest names in the field failed to take advantage of the relatively high scoring among the leaders at La Quinta. Patrick Cantlay, who led the second round at 14 under, finished at that number with an even-par round on the Stadium Course. World No. 1 Jon Rahm did shoot a 67 at the Stadium Course, but he is 13 under and within striking distance of less-experienced players.
The top 10 players heading into the final day include six players looking for their first-ever PGA Tour victory.
With one round remaining in the 2022 American Express golf tournament, the leaderboard includes a lot of names that are probably new to even avid golf fans.
That’s okay, and not altogether surprising. Six of the last 15 champions here had never won a PGA event before a victory in the desert.
So with that in mind, here is everything you need to know about the contenders at the top of the leaderboard. There are 10 players at 15-under or better.
Of this group, there is one major champion, one former champion in the desert, three international players, three players playing this event for the first time, and six players looking for their first career PGA Tour win.
Paul Barjon (-18)
Age: 29
From: Born in Bordeaux, France; resides in Fort Worth, Texas
College: TCU
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: First appearance
Current World Golf Ranking: 313
Notable: With a win, Barjon would be the seventh international winner in the tournament’s 62-year history. It marks the first time the desert’s golf tournament would have back-to-back international winners as Si Woo Kim of South Korea won last year.
Lee Hodges (-18)
Age: 26
From: Born in Huntsville, Alabama, resides in Athens, Alabama
College: UAB and Alabama
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: First appearance
Current World Golf Ranking: 312
Notable: Hodges is from an athletic family. His cousin, Logan Stenberg, is an offensive lineman in the NFL for the Detroit Lions (as of 2021).
Tom Hoge (-17)
Tom Hoge tees off on hole one during the third round of The American Express at the La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022.
Age: 32
From: North Carolina, but resides in Fargo, North Dakota
College: TCU
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: Tied for 6th in 2020
Current World Golf Ranking: 115
Notable: For starters, his name is pronounced exactly like the word Hoagie. This is the seventh time Hoge has played here and he missed the cut, four of the previous six, so this effort on these courses is a bit of a surprise.
Seamus Power (-16)
Age: 34
From: Tooraneena, County Waterford, Ireland
College: East Tennessee State
Number of PGA Tour wins: 1 (2021 Barbasol Championship)
Best finish at this event: Tie for 11th in 2018
Current World Golf Ranking: 49
Notable: Power won the Barbasol event last year on the sixth playoff hole over J.T. Poston. In doing so, he became the fifth player from the Republic of Ireland to win a PGA event, joining Pat Doyle, Peter O’Hara, Padraig Harrington, and Shane Lowry.
Lanto Griffin (-15)
Age: 33
From: Born in Mount Shasta, California, resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
College: VCU
Number of PGA Tour wins: 1 (2019 Houston Open)
Best finish at this event: Played twice and missed cut both times
Current World Golf Ranking: 117
Notable: Once on the Web.com Tour, Griffin won an event after making the cut on the number, the only time that has ever happened on that tour.
Harry Higgs (-15)
Harry Higgs tees off on the 13th hole of the Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West during the American Express in La Quinta, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022.
Age: 30
From: Born in Camden, New Jersey, lives in Dallas, Texas
College: SMU
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: Played here once (2020) and missed the cut
Current World Golf Ranking: 141
Notable: He’s not nervous when the bright lights are on. Higgs has only played in one major tournament in his career, the 2021 PGA Championship, and he finished tied for fourth.
Hudson Swafford (-15)
Age: 34
From: Born in Tallahassee, Florida; resides in Sea Island, Georgia
College: University of Georgia
Number of PGA Tour wins: Two (2017 CareerBuilder Challenge, 2020 Puerto Rico Championship)
Best finish at this event: Winner in 2017
Current World Golf Ranking: 166
Notable: Hudson Swafford won this event in 2017, notably edging out Adam Hadwin, whose week included a 59 at La Quinta Country Club.
Cameron Young (-15)
Age: 24
From: Born in Scarborough, New York; resides in Jupiter, Florida
College: Wake Forest
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: First appearance
Current World Golf Ranking: 134
Notable: Cameron Young is the only player currently on the PGA Tour whose last name begins with a Y.
Francesco Molinari (-15)
Francesco Molinari of Italy walks on the 14th hole during the third round of The American Express at the Stadium Course at PGA West on January 22, 2022, in La Quinta, California. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Age: 39
From: Born and lives in Turin, Italy
College: University of Turin
Number of PGA Tour wins: Three (2018 Quicken Loans, 2018 British Open, 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational)
Best finish at this event: Tied for 10th in 2015
Current World Golf Ranking: 249
Notable: Molinari is one of 13 major champions in the field at The American Express this week. He won the 2018 British Open, outlasting a star-studded group of chasers that included Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, and Xander Schauffele.
Harold Varner III (-15)
Age: 31
From: Born in Akron, Ohio; resides in Charlotte, North Carolina
College: East Carolina
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: Tied for 18th in 2019
Current World Golf Ranking: 95
Notable: Varner does not have a PGA Tour win, but he does have a win on the European Tour. He won the Australian PGA Championship in 2016.
“Welcome to the new normal,” said Patrick Cantlay, as the world’s best golfers go low once again.
LA QUINTA, Calif. – The birdie bonanza on the PGA Tour continues this week at the American Express.
First it was Cameron Smith lighting up Kapalua’s Plantation Course to the tune of a 72-hole Tour record 34-under 258 in Maui at the Sentry Tournament of Champions followed by Hideki Matsuyama shooting 63-63 last weekend to win the Sony Open in Hawaii. This week the Tour returns to the mainland, playing over three courses – PGA West’s Stadium and Nicklaus Course and – and it’s another birdiefest.
“Welcome to the new normal,” said Patrick Cantlay, who started his first round at La Quinta by playing 7 under in his first seven holes before closing with five straight pars to shoot a 62 to tie for the lead. “You’ll have to get into the 20s (under par) to have a chance to win.”
On a typical “dome golf day” of blue skies and not a breath of wind, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell made birdie on four of his first six holes en route to posting 6-under 66. McDowell made an 11th-hour decision to play this week, returning to the desert for the first time since 2004.
“I think my caddie and I are both looking at each other wondering why it’s taken us so long to get here,” he said. “Obviously the weather is perfect and these golf courses are so well presented and it’s the place to play early in the season because you feel like you get the conditions to go out there and make some birdies and see exactly where your game is.”
Making birdies in bunches is good for his confidence and the soul, McDowell said. World No. 1 Jon Rahm made sure he’ll be in the mix for claiming the trophy on Sunday by matching McDowell with 6-under 66 and raved about the golf course and its greens as smooth as billiard tables.
“La Quinta Country Club it’s a great golf course, it’s always in pristine shape, one of the best we play all year shape-wise,” he said. “It’s a golf course where if you play well you can give yourself a lot of birdie chances and that’s what happened today.”
But Rahm conceded his score could’ve been even lower had he holed a few more putts, meaning he’ll have to do damage on the tougher courses over at PGA West, noting that the Pete Dye Stadium Course has the most bite.
“You feel like if you come out here, if you’re not shooting 6-, 7-under for the most part, you’re almost losing strokes,” Rahm said.
Indeed, players were going low with Korn Ferry Tour graduate Lee Hodges leading the way among the early finishers with a 10-under 62 at La Quinta and joined Rahm in singing his praises for the golf course.
“It’s one of my favorite golf courses I’ve ever played to be honest,” Hodges said. “I played it I guess three times now and it’s spectacular. It’s like hitting off of mats half the time.”
Hodges, 26, carded nine birdies and an eagle at the par-5 fifth en route to his lowest round of his career on Tour. After a missed cut last week, he said tried to enjoy the walk and that was the key to his success.
“I knew that my game was there to play really well, so just got to try to change a little bit of my attitude,” he said. “I think that was a big help.”
The always affable Harry Higgs was all smiles after his round, too, especially after using a 5-iron from 199 yards to ace the par-3 15th at La Quinta and shot 66.
But not everyone fared so well at La Quinta. Reigning PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson, who serves as tournament host and is a former champion of the event too, made a nine on the par-4 eight hole and signed for 6-over 78.
With a steady 71, Hodges won at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, and has qualified for this year’s U.S. Open.
Lee Hodges is thrilled to have won the Korn Ferry Tour’s WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz. And he’s even more excited about the doors it might open.
With a steady 71 highlighted by a birdie putt on the tournament’s final hole, Hodges won at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Oregon, but just as important, he’s now among the top five Korn Ferry Tour point leaders, meaning he has qualified for this year’s U.S. Open.
“It’s pretty cool because I didn’t feel like I had my best game this week,” Hodges said. “I mean, I played well, but like I didn’t feel like I was just like clicking on all cylinders and to get a win doing that is pretty special. I didn’t think I would be as nervous as I was last night, but I didn’t sleep a lot last night. You know I kind of tossed and turned.”
Hodges, a University of Alabama alum, was tied for the lead after 54 holes with Paul Barjon. Hodges opened the final round with a bogey but settled in after hitting a 30-foot putt on No. 2 for birdie.
“I played really nice golf,” he said. “I played proper golf which was nice to do on a Sunday when you’re leading. I didn’t take too many risks.”
Barjon, meanwhile, had a pair of double-bogeys on the front and made the turn at 39. He did claw back into contention down the stretch and finished in a tie for second with David Lipsky, Carl Yuan and Chad Ramey.
For Hodges, the opportunity to play Winged Foot this year at the U.S. Open — spots opened up when the USGA determined it couldn’t hold qualifiers — is a special one.
“It’s pretty great,” Hodges said. “It’ll be special, for sure. I’ve always admired the U.S. Open, the way you have to play out there — it’s proper golf. And I like to think I play a lot of proper golf, so hopefully go and play well.”
