Cowboys fan dies before Super Bowl LII, gets best obituary ever from his family

JACKSON, Miss. — Tom Hoge felt relieved to make his way back to the PGA TOUR. He is starting the new season with a clear head, no stress and great scores. One week after he was runner-up at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier for the best finish of his PGA TOUR career, Hoge opened with three straight birdies and closed with a 45-foot birdie putt for an 8-under 64 and a one-shot lead among the early starters Thursday in the Sanderson Farms Championship. Robert Streb, Cameron Percy and Seamus Power each shot 65. Thunderstorms moved in over the Country Club of Jackson in the afternoon and led to play being suspended for the day. First-round play is set to resume at 7 a.m. CT Friday morning. Of the late starters, Byeong Hun An and J.T. Poston were at 5 under. Joaquin Niemann, the 20-year-old from Chile coming off a six-shot victory at the Greenbrier, opened with a 68. Hoge, a 30-year-old from North Dakota, is winless in 134 career starts on the PGA TOUR and has only advanced to the FedExCup Playoffs once. Last month was the third time since 2015 he had to earn his card back through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. But he’s back again, and he wants to make the most of it. “There was so much pressure there for a few weeks to play well and get back out here on the PGA TOUR,” Hoge said. “Once you get that done, it frees you up a little bit. At the same time, you know you played well, so just kind of keep it rolling.” That he did. After a three-week break, he started the new season by posting all four rounds in the 60s for only the second time in his career. He contended on Sunday until Niemann pulled away, but it was his first runner-up on TOUR and took some of the pressure off. Thursday was more of the same. He missed only four greens, and twice saved par with big putts, including one from 12 feet after finding a bunker on the 16th hole. His start, however, was ideal. He holed a 6-foot birdie putt at No. 1, stuffed a wedge into tap-in range on the next hole and made a 12-footer on No. 3. The finish was a bonus, a 45-foot putt that rolled in the center of the cup with perfect pace. “Nice way to end for sure,” Hoge said. This is the first time the Sanderson Farms Championship is not sharing the week with another, bigger PGA TOUR event. Years ago, it was held opposite the TOUR Championship before the FedExCup era. More recently, it was held opposite the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. Now it gets full FedExCup points, and the winner gets an invitation to the Masters. For Hoge, it’s a chance to get his season off to a quick start. He knows from experience how valuable that can be. Two years ago, he tied for seventh in Las Vegas and then played in the final group and finished third in Honolulu. That was the one year he kept his card. “Just frees up the rest of the year,” Hoge said. Brandt Snedeker, playing the Sanderson Farms Championship for the first time, opened with a 69. Among those playing in the afternoon was 17-year-old Akshay Bhatia, who turned pro this week. He was even par through four holes.

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Patrick Reed won THE NORTHERN TRUST the last time it was held at Liberty National, in 2019. This one, though, has been one to forget. First Reed pulled out of the tournament with an ankle injury. Then, as his fellow competitors were playing the rain-delayed final round Monday, he issued a statement to the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis that he’s home in Houston battling double-pneumonia. “The good news is, my ankle is okay,” Reed wrote, in part. “The bad news is I’ve been in the hospital with bilateral pneumonia. I’m on the road to recovery, once I’m cleared from the doctors – I look forward to returning. I wish you all the best and I can’t wait to get back out there! “Thank you so much for your support,” he continued, “it means a lot to me. Also, a special thank you to the doctors, nurses, and staff at The Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.” Like many players, Reed has had a demanding travel schedule this summer. He’s flown from the Rocket Mortgage Classic (T32) to The Open Championship (MC) to the 3M Open (T34) to the Olympic Games in Tokyo (T22), where he was a late replacement for Bryson DeChambeau. Then it was right back home for the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee (T31). If Reed is unable to play this week at the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland, it would be three straight events he will have missed with illness or injury after spraining his ankle at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude. Reed came into THE NORTHERN TRUST at 22nd in the FedExCup standings. He hasn’t missed the top-30 TOUR Championship since 2013. He’s also ninth in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings for the team that Steve Stricker will captain at Whistling Straits next month. The top six in points automatically qualify; others will require a pick.

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