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Lee Hodges Captures First PGA Tour Victory With Wire-to-Wire Win at 3M Open

Hodges won by a stunning seven shots in Minnesota.

Gabrielle Herzig

Lee Hodges Captures First PGA Tour Victory With Wire-to-Wire Win at 3M Open
Lee Hodges Captures First PGA Tour Victory With Wire-to-Wire Win at 3M Open /

Becoming a first time winner on the PGA Tour is no easy task, but Hodges made his maiden victory at the 3M Open look smooth as can be. 

The 28-year-old from Athens, Ala., stormed to a stunning seven-shot wire-to-wire victory on Sunday at TPC Twin Cities, where he also beat the tournament scoring record of 21 under. 

Hodges finished at 24 under after back-to-back bogey-free rounds of 63 and 64, then a 66 and 67 to cap off the weekend. 

MORE: Final purse payouts from the 3M Open

Hodges vowed to stick to his aggressive game plan on Sunday despite his comfortable lead, saying “pars aren’t going to get it done tomorrow.”

The University of Alabama product might not have produced his lowest score on Sunday, but he maintained his composure throughout the high-stakes round. 

He opened with a birdie on the 2nd and an eagle on the par-5 6th, stretching his lead to a stunning seven shots after the 8th hole. 

A bad snap-hooked approach shot on the par-4 9th marked Hodges’s first bogey of the day, but he bounced back with another eagle on the par-5 12th. 

Hodges finalized the win with a pair of bogeys and birdies in his last four holes, including one on the final hole of the tournament. 

J.T. Poston, who joined Hodges in the final pairing, looked to be in control of solo second place when he teed off on the 18th hole, but a water ball ultimately led to a triple bogey. The disastrous ending cost Poston $260,000. 

Hodges, on the other hand, chose to lay up on 18. He stuck his wedge shot to just 16 inches, winning with the same clutch shot-making that he had all week. 

Hodges’s wife, family and college golf coach, Jay Seawell, were all there to greet him after the victory. 

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Gabrielle Herzig
GABRIELLE HERZIG

Gabrielle Herzig is a Breaking and Trending News writer for Sports Illustrated Golf. Previously, she worked as a Golf Digest Contributing Editor, an NBC Sports Digital Editorial Intern, and a Production Runner for FOX Sports at the site of the 2018 U.S. Open. Gabrielle graduated as a Politics Major from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she was a four-year member and senior-year captain of the Pomona-Pitzer women’s golf team. In her junior year, Gabrielle studied abroad in Scotland for three months, where she explored the Home of Golf by joining the Edinburgh University Golf Club.

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