2022 Waste Management Phoenix Open: Top 10 power rankings

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Feb 2, 2020; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; Tom Hoge and his caddie Henry Diana work on clubs at the first tee box during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament at TPC Scottsdale. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

It was a career-changing week for Tom Hoge at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The 32-year-old has maintained his PGA Tour card since 2015 but had never cashed in for a victory until Sunday.

Hoge played his way into a tie for the lead through 54 holes. A double-bogey on No. 5 Sunday made it look like he would have to settle for just another high finish. Instead, he kept grinding and closed strong with birdies on Nos. 11, 14, 16, and 17 to be able to play the par-5 18th conservatively and win by two.

He executed down the stretch like someone who’s done it 10, 20 times. Some misfires by Jordan Spieth didn’t hurt, either.

“Yeah, I mean, obviously a lot of hard work with my caddie Henry and probably just got a little bit smarter out here all these years,” Hoge was transcribed by ASAP Sports. “I’ve certainly made enough mistakes to figure out how to not do that anymore. So it’s been a nice progression and I think just being comfortable in this atmosphere now, certainly helped being in the final group a couple weeks ago in Palm Springs so I really felt good today right from the get-go and, yeah, you never know where that slight edge is going to come, so we hope that you know that you get enough and it will all add up.”

In two rounds at Pebble Beach (Shotlink was not available at Monterey Peninsula or Spyglass Hill), Hoge was third in the field in strokes gained tee to green (6.164) and third in SG putting (5.256).

Based on recent results, if Hoge was ever going to get it done, Pebble Beach was a good spot.

He matched his career-best finish a couple of weeks ago by taking solo second place at The American Express. It was his second top-five of the 2021-22 season and fourth top-25.

Pebble Beach, Monterey Peninsula, and Spyglass Hill are also all short courses. Hoge’s 103rd on the PGA Tour in driving distance (297.2).

This week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open is more favorable to bombers than last week, but TPC Scottsdale is still accommodating to various playing styles.

When on his game, Hoge’s pretty solid at every aspect of the game. Lately, his iron play is trending up. He was 52nd on the PGA Tour in SG approach (.304) last season and is sixth (.94) this season.

The former TCU Horned Frog is making his fifth Waste Management Phoenix Open. He fired 65-71-67-72 to take T-25th in 2020.

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