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.
"I waited 11 years for that," Hoge said, the crystal trophy at his side, still surprised enough to contemplate the win in his 203rd start on tour that sends him to the Masters in April and moved him to No. 39 in the world this week.
He called it "unexpected" for a couple of reasons. With a mad scramble at the start, he thought his double bogey from a bunker on the par-3 fifth might be too much to overcome. And when he realized he was still in the game, he still had Spieth to overtake.
"You always expect him to keep making birdies," Hoge said.
Spieth was expecting it, too, and was surprised he didn't win. The turning point came at the 17th with an 8-iron shot Spieth thought was his best swing of the day. It came up short in the bunker, and he missed a five-foot par putt.
Hoge saw the miss but didn't know if it was for par or birdie. Only after he made a birdie and realized he had a two-shot lead on the par-5 18th did he realize his time had come.
He had been a runner-up twice in his eight years on the PGA Tour and also missed a playoff at the Sony Open by one shot. That was the year Spieth first mentioned Hoge and said, "When he gets in contention, he will not back down."
Such was the case Sunday.
"He's somebody that I knew when he was on the heels I needed to make birdies, he wasn't going to falter," Spieth said. "So between him and Patrick behind I never felt secure, and therefore I tried to keep playing aggressively as well."
Hoge finished at 19-under 268 and earned $1,566,000. He had only two seasons where he won more money, his biggest in 2020 with just more than $1.85 million.
Spieth reached the 15th tee with a two-shot lead. Only after his bogey on the 17th did he learn he needed an eagle to have any chance, and a sandy lie from under the tree in the fairway kept him from reaching the green. He made par for a 69.
Hoge had to wait for Beau Hossler, one of three players who shared the 54-hole lead, who needed a closing eagle to force a playoff. Hossler sent his fairway metal right into a bunker, blasted out long and three-putted for a bogey to close a 71 and finish third at 16 under, with Cantlay (71) and Troy Merritt (67) another stroke behind.
Baylor School graduate Keith Mitchell (70) tied for 12th at 12 under.
AP photo by Eric Risberg / Tom Hoge poses with his trophy on the 18th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday. His first PGA Tour victory came in his 203rd start.Varner delivers
KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia - Harold Varner III holed a 90-foot putt for eagle on the final hole at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club to go from one shot behind to a stunning victory in the Saudi International.
Varner closed with a 1-under 69 to finish at 13-under 267 and post his second victory worldwide. The 31-year-old American's other win was in December 2016 at the Australian PGA, a PGA Tour of Australasia event.
He faced a tough task to even two-putt for birdie and force a playoff with two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson, who closed with a 64. Varner did one better with a putt that went from one end of the 18th green to the other. He threw his putter to the ground and pumped his arms to celebrate.
"There's been times where it just didn't go my way, and today it did," said Varner, whose birdie on No. 17 was also vital. "Worst-case scenario, we'll go to a playoff and I'd get him there. And then it went in, and emotions came out. I love that."
He won $1 million from the $5 million prize fund, along with whatever appearance money he received from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund that attracted 21 of the top 50 players in the world to this Asian Tour event. Varner, who was 99th, moves into the top 50 for the first time; if he can stay there for two more months, he would get to the Masters.
Spain's Adri Arnaus closed with a 71 to finish third, two shots behind runner-up Watson, who jogged over from the clubhouse to congratulate his "dear friend" Varner.
Nice recovery
RAS AL KHAMAH, United Arab Emirates - Nicolai Hojgaard closed with a 4-under 68 for a four-shot victory in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship.
The 20-year-old from Denmark started the final round with a three-shot lead and appeared to be in control until a double bogey on the ninth hole and a bogey on the 12th. Meanwhile, England's Jordan Smith had seven birdies in 14 holes to take a two-shot lead.
Hojgaard recovered with a birdie on the 13th and an eagle from the waste area on the par-5 14th. He closed with two birdies to finish comfortably at 24-under 264 and secure his second win on the DP World Tour.
Smith turned in a 66 to finish second, with third place shared by four players: China's Haotong Li (63), Austria's Luka Nemecz (66), France's Matthieu Pavon (66) and Spain's Adrian Otaegui (67).