Fargo's Tom Hoge wins Pebble Beach Pro-Am for first PGA victory

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — A stellar run in the final holes helped Fargo's Tom Hoge to victory in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday.

Hoge finished with three birdies in the final five holes Sunday, Feb. 6, to overcome Jordan Spieth's two-shot lead down the stretch and give Hoge his first career PGA victory.

Hoge's birdie string and Spieth's bogie on No. 17 completed the swing on the leaderboard. Hoge parred No. 18 to sew up the two-shot victory.

With the win, Hoge earned $1.566 million plus 500 FedEx Cup points to move into second place behind Hideki Matsuyama. Hoge also received a PGA Tour exemption through the 2024 season and a spot in the 2022 Masters in April.

"It feels pretty good," Hoge told CBS Sports in a post-round interview. "It's almost a shock. It's been so long since I won anything I almost forgot how to celebrate there on 18."

Hoge last won a tour event in the 2011 Canadian Tour Players Cup.

Hoge shot a 4-under 68 on Sunday to finish at 19-under 268. Spieth was second at 17-under and Beau Hossler finished third at 16-under. Hossler could have tied Hoge with an eagle on the par-5 18th but he hit his approach shot into a greenside bunker and needed to hole out to force a playoff. But he sent his shot well past the hole and ended up making bogey.

While he finished strong, Hoge didn't feel confident early on Sunday. After a birdie on No. 3, he double bogied the par-3 No. 5, rebounded with birdies on No. 6 and No. 7 before a bogey on No. 8. On the back nine, he birdied holes No. 11, 14, 16 and made a key 22-foot left-to-right birdie putt on No. 17 after Spieth, playing in the group ahead, blew a par save on the 17th.

"Really I was just trying to get two good looks for birdie on 17 and 18 and still expected Jordan to make a birdie or eagle on 18 coming up the stretch," Hoge said. "Putt was kind of a bonus. You never expect to make that putt, a big swinging downhill putt like that. When I hit it I initially thought it was short, but went right in the middle, it was pretty nice."

Hoge, who has two runnerup finishes in his PGA career, played in the final group at Pebble Beach in 2021 but finished in 12th place. This year, on the weekend, Hoge made 16 birdies on the 36 holes played on the Pebble Beach course, seven of them coming on Sunday.

"I always got myself in position and then just felt a little uncomfortable on Sundays out there," Hoge told CBS Sports. "Finally, today, I felt great the whole day and felt real calm kind of standing over those putts that you need to make down the stretch.

"It's awesome. You work through so many hard times and to be here and to finally pull one off, it feels incredible."