Lee Hodges (golfer)

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Lee Hodges
Lee Hodges 2022.png
Personal information
Born (1995-06-14) June 14, 1995 (age 29)
Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight187 lb (85 kg)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States.svg United States
Residence Athens, Alabama, U.S.
Spouse
Savannah Rae Kennedy
​
​
(m. 2021)​
Career
College University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Alabama
Turned professional2018
Current tour(s) PGA Tour
Former tour(s) Korn Ferry Tour
PGA Tour Canada
Professional wins2
Highest ranking 52 (September 10, 2023) [1]
(as of July 14, 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
Korn Ferry Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament CUT: 2024
PGA Championship T12: 2024
U.S. Open CUT: 2020
The Open Championship CUT: 2023

Lee Hodges (born June 14, 1995) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He claimed his breakthrough win on the PGA Tour at the 3M Open in July 2023.

Contents

Amateur career

As a senior at Ardmore High School in 2014, Hodges won the Alabama 4A individual state championship. [2]

Hodges spent two years at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and was named to the All-Conference USA first team both seasons, as well as winning the conference Freshman of the Year in 2015. After the 2015–16 season, he transferred to the University of Alabama and played there for the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons. [3] As a senior, he won twice and was named to the All-SEC first team and Ping All-America third team, alongside Alabama teammate Davis Riley in both cases, as the team finished second at the 2018 NCAA Division I championship. [4] [5] [6]

Professional career

In March 2018, while still in college, Hodges competed in a qualifying tournament for PGA Tour Canada. He tied for 28th, earning membership but no guaranteed starts. [7] [8]

Hodges turned pro after the NCAA championship. In late June, he Monday qualified for the Lethbridge Paradise Canyon Open on PGA Tour Canada and finished in a tie for 12th. [9] This gave him access into further events; after finishing third at the Staal Foundation Open and second at the ATB Financial Classic, [10] he placed 15th on the tour's money list. Because of this, he was allowed to enter the Korn Ferry Tour qualifying tournament at the second stage, from which he advanced to the final stage with a tie for third. [11] At final stage he tied for 50th, [12] one stroke short of earning eight guaranteed starts but enough to get into some of the early events.

Hodges opened the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour season with a tie for 16th at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic and was able to play in most of the remaining events. Entering the final week of the regular season, he was 92nd on the points list, but a season-best tie for seventh at the WinCo Foods Portland Open moved him to 73rd. Finishing in the top 75 made him eligible for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and gave him fully-exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020.

In 2020, Hodges had five top-10 finishes, culminating with a win at the Portland Open which moved him to third on the points list, [13] [14] but due to the COVID-19 pandemic there was no graduating class in 2020 and the season extended into 2021. However, his play on the Korn Ferry Tour did make him eligible for opposite-field PGA Tour events in 2021 as well as the 2020 U.S. Open. [15] [13] At the conclusion of the 2020–21 Korn Ferry Tour regular season, Hodges was 10th in points, thus graduating to the PGA Tour for 2021–22.

Hodges' best finish as a PGA Tour rookie was a tie for third at The American Express, where he co-led at the 54 hole mark. Aided by three other top-25 finishes, he retained his card and entered the 2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs 99th in points after the removal of LIV Golf players. He tied for 13th at the opening playoff event (the FedEx St. Jude Championship) but fell eight points short of moving into the top 70 and advancing to the second event.

In July 2023, Hodges claimed his first PGA Tour win at the 3M Open. He won wire-to-wire, winning by seven shots. [16]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (2)

PGA Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1Jul 30, 2023 3M Open −24 (63-64-66-67=260)7 strokes Flag of Scotland.svg Martin Laird, Flag of the United States.svg J. T. Poston,
Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Streelman

Korn Ferry Tour wins (1)

Legend
Championship Series (1)
Other Korn Ferry Tour (0)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1Aug 9, 2020 WinCo Foods Portland Open −11 (70-64-68-71=273)2 strokes Flag of France.svg Paul Barjon, Flag of the United States.svg David Lipsky,
Flag of the United States.svg Chad Ramey, Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Yuan Yechun

Results in major championships

Tournament20202021202220232024
Masters Tournament CUT
PGA Championship T55T12
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship NTCUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament202220232024
The Players Championship 70CUTT35

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Week 36 2023 Ending 10 Sep 2023" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Golf Past State Champions – Boys". Alabama High School Athletic Association . Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Lee Hodges". Alabama Crimson Tide . Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Alabama's Lee Hodges, Davis Riley Named First Team All-SEC". Alabama Crimson Tide. May 10, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Alabama's Lee Hodges, Davis Riley Each Named PING All-Americans". Alabama Crimson Tide. June 21, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  6. ↑ Herrington, Ryan (May 30, 2018). "Oklahoma State wins the 2018 NCAA men's golf title in runaway victory over Alabama". Golf Digest . Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  7. ↑ "2018 Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada Q-School USA East 1 Past Results". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  8. ↑ "2018 Mackenzie Tour Player Handbook Player Handbook & Tournament Regulations" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  9. ↑ @PGATOURCanada (June 19, 2018). "Congrats to the following Monday qualifiers into the @LethPCOpen" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ Gilbertson, Wes (August 12, 2018). "Pereira triumphs at 2018 ATB Financial Classic in Calgary". Calgary Sun. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Second Stage – Brooksville, FL | Leaderboard". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  12. ↑ "2018 Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament | Leaderboard". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Lee Hodges earns first title at WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz". PGA Tour. August 9, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  14. ↑ Schmitt, Tim (August 9, 2020). "Lee Hodges takes home Korn Ferry Tour's Portland Open title, earns U.S. Open start". Golfweek. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  15. ↑ Bolton, Rob. "Fantasy preview for 2020–2021 season". PGA Tour. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ↑ "3M Open: Lee Hodges takes commanding wire-to-wire victory to claim first PGA Tour title". Sky Sports. July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
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