Tom Hoge broke through for his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Fittingly, it came against Jordan Spieth, who four years ago told an epic story involving Hoge and craps.
Here’s The Associated Press story written by Doug Ferguson:
The conversation with Jordan Spieth outside the fitness centre at the Sony Open ended because Tom Hoge was going into the interview room. Hoge, who has never won on the PGA Tour, was tied for the lead.
“Let me tell you about Tom Hoge,” Spieth said. “When he gets in contention, he will not back down.”
And that’s how it played out. Hoge stayed in or around the lead the entire final round until one shot that he missed by a fraction on the wrong side of the hole led to double bogey. He missed out on a playoff by one shot.
Told a month later about Spieth’s prediction, Hoge was perplexed. He said they hardly spend any time together. They’ve never played together. They live on opposite ends of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “My only connection with Jordan is I taught him how to play craps,” Hoge said.
Two weeks later in Mexico, Spieth was reminded of the conversation in Hawaii. How would he know what to expect from Hoge if he had never played golf with him?
“Because that’s how he plays craps,” Spieth said.