PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Jordan Spieth knew what to expect long before he ever saw Tom Hoge play golf.
Hoge had shown him how to play craps in 2015 during the John Deere Classic, and what Spieth took away from that evening was Hoge was not the kind of player who would back down when the stakes were high.
They were plenty high Sunday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as Hoge, one of seven players who had at least a share of the lead in the final round, had another chance to win for the first time on the PGA Tour.
At his side was Patrick Cantlay, the reigning FedEx Cup champion and No. 4 player in the Official World Golf Ranking. Two shots ahead of him with five holes to play was Spieth, a three-time major champion and former world No. 1.
Hoge delivered all the right shots at Pebble Beach Golf Links. He made two tough birdie putts on the 11th and 14th to stay in the game. His 9-iron shot came inches from going in on the 16th. And then the 32-year-old from North Dakota made the biggest putt of his career, a 20-footer for birdie on the par-3 17th that carried him to a 4-under-par 68 and a two-shot victory over Spieth.