Lee Hodges (golfer)

Last updated

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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korn Ferry Tour</span> Professional mens golf tour

The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. Those who are on the top 30 of the money list at year's end are given PGA Tour memberships for the next season. Since the 2013 season, the Korn Ferry Tour has been the primary pathway for those seeking to earn their PGA Tour card. Q-School, which had previously been the primary route for qualification to the PGA Tour, has been converted as an entryway to the Korn Ferry Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PGA Tour</span> Golf tour in the United States

The PGA Tour is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, as well as the PGA Tour Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour, as well as the PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Latinoamérica, and formerly the PGA Tour China. The PGA Tour is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a suburb southeast of Jacksonville.

The Korn Ferry Tour Finals is a series of four golf tournaments that conclude the season on the Korn Ferry Tour. The finals are contested in a playoff format, similar to the FedEx Cup playoffs on the PGA Tour, with players eliminated after each of the first three tournaments. At the end of the Finals, the top 30 players on the season-long points list earn PGA Tour membership for the following season.

Howard Travis "Trey" Mullinax III is an American professional golfer.

Richard Raymond Werenski is an American professional golfer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephan Jäger</span> German professional golfer

Stephan Patrick Jäger, also spelled as Stephan Jaeger, is a German professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won six tournaments on the second tier Korn Ferry Tour in the United States. He won his first PGA Tour event at the 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open.

Kurt Shun Kitayama is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. On the European Tour, he won the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December 2018 and the Oman Open in March 2019. In March 2023, he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour.

Adam Gordon Long is an American professional golfer who won his first PGA Tour event at the 2019 Desert Classic.

The 2020–21 Korn Ferry Tour was the 31st season of the Korn Ferry Tour, the official development tour to the PGA Tour.

The 2020–21 PGA Tour was the 106th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the 53rd season since separating from the PGA of America, and the 15th edition of the FedEx Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sahith Theegala</span> American professional golfer (born 1997)

Sahith Reddy Theegala is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Zalatoris</span> American professional golfer (born 1996)

William Patrick Zalatoris is an American professional golfer. He has competed primarily on the PGA Tour, where he has won once, at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship. He also has three runner-up finishes in major championships.

This page lists the criteria used to determine the field for the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club, and the players who qualified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taylor Pendrith</span> Canadian professional golfer

Taylor Pendrith is a Canadian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has one PGA Tour victory which came in the May 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Previously, he won twice on PGA Tour Canada in 2019.

Vincent Oliver Norrman is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2023 Barbasol Championship, as well as the 2023 Horizon Irish Open. As an amateur, he was part of the Swedish team winning the 2019 European Amateur Team Championship.

Paul Barjon is a French professional golfer, who won the 2019 PGA Tour Canada Order of Merit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameron Young</span> American professional golfer

Cameron Young is an American professional golfer. He has twice finished in the top three in major championships and has several other runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour. He has also won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour. He was voted PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2021–22 season.

Brandon Wu is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Championship.

Davis Riley is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Davis Thompson is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2022 Rex Hospital Open and was number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in 2020 and 2021. Thompson earned his first PGA Tour win at the John Deere Classic on July 7, 2024, earning an invitation to play in the 2024 Open Championship, and the 2025 Masters Tournament in the process.

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.