Scottie Scheffler presently holds the title of being the perfect ball striker on the PGA Tour, as his latest play has referred to as many to evaluate him to prime Tiger Woods.
Different nice iron gamers on tour embrace Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, and Ludvig Åberg, however Tom Hoge, who solely has one profession PGA Tour victory, presently ranks second behind Scheffler in strokes gained: approaching the inexperienced.
Hoge has been a cast-iron participant for the previous few years, however he has not felt that means this week on the RBC Heritage. In actual fact, he has felt the precise reverse by means of 36 holes at Harbour City.
“This week has been as uncomfortable as I’ve felt with an iron in my hand to date this 12 months,” Hoge stated after his second spherical 7-under 64.
“It’s felt a little bit bit higher every day, however hopefully, I can go and determine it out this afternoon.”
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As an alternative of counting on his beautiful ball hanging, Hoge has leaned on his red-hot putter. He presently ranks first in strokes gained: placing on the RBC Heritage. That explains why he walked off the course tied for the lead with Morikawa and Sepp Straka at 11-under par on Friday.
“I felt like I putted rather well at this time, which was the important thing,” Hoge stated.
“There’s nonetheless a little bit bit of labor left to do ball-striking-wise the place I actually really feel snug, so I’m going to go get a little bit observe this afternoon, however I really feel nice across the greens, so hopefully I hold going.”
Hoge’s second spherical started with a bang on the par-4 1st gap. He drained a 15-footer for birdie there, serving as a harbinger of issues to come back.
One other birdie adopted on the par-5 2nd, and Hoge closed the entrance 9 by making birdies on the sixth, eighth, and ninth holes. He made 49 toes of putts over that three-hole stretch to show with a 5-under 31.
The Fargo, North Dakota native then made 5 straight pars earlier than birdieing the par-5 fifteenth and closed with one other par-breaker on Harbour City’s well-known closing gap.
“My pace [on the greens] has been actually good to date this week,” Hoge stated.
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“I’ve felt actually snug seeing the putts and the pace with them, in order that’s an enormous key out right here.”
Contemplating the slim tree-lined fairways, tiny inexperienced complexes, and the emphasis on the right track golf, you’d suppose Hoge’s superior ball-striking acumen would translate to success at Harbour City.
Nice iron gamers and people who scramble effectively usually thrive on the RBC Heritage, which has been contested at Harbour City yearly since 1969.
However of his six begins in Hilton Head, Hoge has made solely 4 cuts, along with his greatest end being a tie for twenty fifth in 2021.
“I really feel like I ought to come right here and have a great likelihood, and it actually hasn’t translated over time right here to date. Each time you see it, you get a little bit extra snug round right here with among the strains,” Hoge defined.
“As I’ve seemed again, I performed a little bit bit too aggressively on among the greens right here, so I’ve tried to be a little bit bit extra conservative this 12 months into a few of these powerful holes, among the par-3s, [the par-4] eighth, a few of these, simply to offer myself an opportunity from among the edges of the greens.”
Regardless of feeling uncomfortable along with his approaches, his conservative mindset has translated to success so far in 2024. If Hoge can discover one thing along with his irons, maybe he can go on to win for the primary time for the reason that 2022 AT&T Pebble Seaside Professional-Am.
Ought to he achieve this, he seemingly will really feel uncomfortable within the winner’s circle, since it might mark his second profession PGA Tour win. However that feeling can be welcomed, not like how he presently feels when going through the daunting iron photographs required at Harbour City.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. Make sure you try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.
