Tom Hoge Shoots Record 62 at The Players

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.”

Tom Hoge

Tom Hoge, who has just one PGA Tour title in a dozen years as a pro, broke the course record at TPC Sawgrass in the third round of The Players.  He shot a 62.

The previous course record of 63 was set by Fred Couples in 1992 when he was No. 1 in the world. It was a few weeks before he won the Masters. Couples also held the course record of 64 from 1984, when he won the tournament, then called the TPC, until he broke it in 1992. He held or shared a portion of the record for 39 years. Nine other players matched Couples record of 63 between 1992 and now.

Hoge shot the record score the really hard way, with birdies and no bogeys.  He had no eagles, no holes-in-one.

“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,” he said after his round. “So just felt fortunate and tried to take advantage of it the best I could.”       

Shots he particularly remembered were a hybrid second shot on the 11^th which left him about 14 feet for eagle.   On the 12^th, he hit a driver off the tee on the drivable par four, and it landed about 10 feet from the pin.  He missed the putt, but still made birdie.

The third round started late because of a rain interruption on Friday which delayed completion of the second round until Saturday morning.   The PGA Tour sent golfers out for the third round on both No. 1 and No. 10 with the top half of the field going off the first and the second half of the field going off the 10^th.  Hoge started his round on the 10^th hole.

Shots he particularly remembered were a hybrid second shot on the 11^th which left him about 14 feet for eagle. He made birdie.   On the 12^th, he hit a driver off the tee on the drivable par four, and it landed about 10 feet from the pin.  He missed the putt, but still made birdie.

He had birdies at the 11^th, 12^th, 15^th, 16^th and 18^th in his first nine holes and birdies at the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th,  8^th and 9^th in his second nine.  

Brandel Chamblee on Live from The Players said TPC Sawgrass was like a rottweiler with a bad tooth.  He called it, “the most stressful golf course in the world.”

Hoge clearly tamed it on Saturday.