Tom Hoge shoots four under par in 1st round of 3M Open

BLAINE, Minn. -- Fargo, North Dakota native Tom Hoge shot a four under par round Thursday at the 3M Open - good enough for third place at the time.

Hoge, sandwiched between playing partners Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im on Thursday, nearly matched one of his more accomplished peers as he and Im flew past Matsuyama and up the leaderboard. Im finished two shots clear of Hoge at -6, tied for the lead with Scott Piercy.

Hoge hit every green in regulation today, despite 25-mile-per-hour gusts making TPC Twin Cities less gettable than usual. Maybe it's the familiarity for Fargo's own.

"I just feel comfortable being in the area," said Hoge after the round. "I think it helps. Playing in a lot of this wind, growing up here in Fargo a couple hours away. Just to understand how it'll affect some of the shots out there."

Hoge played in many Minnesota tournaments as he was coming up. He's having a career year this year at the highest level. He got his first PGA Tour win in February at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but entering this week, he had missed six straight cuts, most recently, last week at the Open Championship.

"I felt like I was starting to play a lot better at St. Andrews even though I didn't score as well as I would have liked. But I feel like it's starting to turn around for me. And hopefully, it's the right time as we head into the playoffs," said Hoge.

Hoge has four top-tens and eight top-25s this season.

"It's a new situation. I don't know exactly where I stand in the FedEx Cup, but I'm in a good position to make it all the way to East Lake for the first time at the Tour Championship," said Hoge. "And it makes it easier over these stretches where you don't play as well. You don't have to press as much. And you just know that what I've worked on in the past will get me out of it and get me back in the right form."

Former University of Minnesota golfer Eric van Rooyen withdrew before the tournament for health reasons. Making Hoge the de facto home-region favorite.

"There were some fans out there from the start. It was nice to see them at 7:30 this morning, to see them out there. So it was cool to have a few fans cheering for me for once out here."

Hoge's missed the cut at last year's 3M Open. His best finish in the event was the inaugural tournament in 2019 when he finished tied for 23rd. He hopes to top that this week with a growing gallery in tow.

"A few family," said Hoge. "Hopefully some more come down for the weekend, too."