Lee Hodges shot a 67 on the final day and held on strong to collect his first PGA Tour victory at the 3M Open in Blaine, MN, dominating with a seven-stroke win over the field, finishing at 24-under.
Sitting on the sidelines with CBS Sportscaster Amanda Balionis, Lee Hodges' Alabama college coach, Jay Seawell said, "he's [Lee Hodges] a great player, but he's an even better person," with tears in his eyes, as his golfing pupil continued to tear up the TPC Twin Cities golf course on the final day. Lee Hodges may be a kind guy, but he certainly showed no mercy as he retained his strong lead above the fray.
Hodges was on fire throughout the tournament, starting out strong with a massive, eight-birdie 63 on the first day, and following with a 64 and 66 in the next two rounds, capping off with a tournament record 260, that included a 67 on the last day. Sunday was his worst round and that included not one, but two eagles! His putter was practically smoking on the greens. Only three bogeys showed that he was human.
Hodges hails from the small town of Ardmore, Alabama and was hugged by his ecstatic wife—who is also his high school sweetheart—on the 18th hole, which the 28-year-old birdied with panache.
"I'm super proud to be from there and represent those people," Hodges said afterward, according to ESPN. "Man, I'm sure there is a party going on in north Alabama right now."
He was also greeted by his college coach, who had a special milkshake ready for him in celebration.
"That's our Alabama thing," explained Hodges. "Anytime we won a tournament he would take us to get milkshakes," he said during the press conference afterward, smiling.
The first-time PGA winner also received his biggest paycheck, with a $1.4 million prize, while J.T. Poston gave away his outright second place—and the $260,000 that would have gone with it—with a crushing triple bogey on the 18th that took him down from 20-under to 17-under, and tying him with Martin Laird and Kevin Streelman.
"At the end of the day it's not the way I wanted to end, but I had to try and give it a shot and see if there was some way I could make three there at the end and put some pressure on Lee," said Poston, whose ball on the 18th hit the 3M sign in the water, at the most inopportune time. Still, the 30-year-old North Carolina native finished with a 69.
"It was a shot that was going to be hard to pull off, but we weren't playing for second place. I had to give it a shot," Poston continued on Twitter.
Hodges vaulted up the FedEx Cup standings to 33rd (from 74th!), and Poston leapt to 38th. The highest-ranked player in the field, Tony Finau, is in 10th place in the standings.
Lee Hodges outpaced Tony Finau at the 3M Open
Finau had entered the tournament looking to defend his 2022 title. Although he tried to catch Hodges in the first three rounds, with an impressive 66, 66, and 67, he played it too safe on the final day, finishing with a mistake-free 70. But with only one birdie, it wasn't bold enough to catch Hodges, who sped past the competition like a bullet train. Finau's fourth-round performance earned him a three-way tie for seventh alongside Sam Ryder and Aaron Baddeley.
"The process I went through, I'll take this week forever," Hodges said, via the PGA Tour. "I'll just try to keep replicating this week every time I show up to a tournament."
The next PGA competition will be the Wyndham Championship taking place in Greensboro, NC, beginning Aug. 3.
