Hoag continues in Nicklaus' footsteps at Memorial

• By Jason Sobel
• May 30, 2012 11:27 AM ET

DUBLIN, Ohio – Bo Hoag’s journey has taken him from Upper Arlington, Ohio, to Ohio State University to a career in professional golf. If that path sounds familiar, it’s because it mirrors that of Jack Nicklaus.

This week, Hoag will take one more step toward the same journey as he tees it up in Nicklaus’ own Memorial Tournament.

“I got to play with him at the alumni match at Ohio State, which was cool,” Hoag said Wednesday. “Played 18 holes at the Bears Club down in Florida, played with him and John Cook. Yeah, he was helpful that day, kind of just gave me some tips, and just kind of tried to pump up the team a little bit, (he said) don't ever try to finish third or fourth in a tournament, just try to win it.”

Hoag, who is currently competing on the minor-league NGA Tour, estimates that he’s played Muirfield Village more than 100 times, though never with as much pressure as he’ll face this week.

“Every tournament I play in, I think if you ask any other player in the tournament, they'd say they want to win the tournament,” Hoag added. “Nobody tees it up to finish 10th or something like that. So that's kind of in the back of my mind. But honestly, I'm not really focused on a finish. I don't have something like that in my mind. I'm just going to kind of stick with my routine and process and really just play the best I can and see where the chips fall.”