Nate Lashley feels good after Saturday 65

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The numbers tell the story of the 1999 PLAYERS Championship. The winning score was the highest ever recorded at TPC Sawgrass. It was shot by a man who’d won 30 percent of his starts over the previous 17 months. And he supplanted Tiger Woods atop the world ranking when when he walked off the 18th green. The dominant stretch that defined David Duval’s career culminated when he conquered THE PLAYERS Stadium Course. His combination of distance and accuracy made him nearly unbeatable when he was at his best. So it’s fitting that his PLAYERS victory came on the most demanding week in TPC Sawgrass’ history. And now, with THE PLAYERS returning to March, that week provides a perfect illustration of the type of tournament that the earlier date can produce. It’s impossible to control the weather, but the lower temperatures and humidity increase the chances of getting the course in championship condition. “I always thought the course played better in March,â€� Duval said recently. “You can get it more consistently firm and fast. You can grow the kind of thicker, longer overseeded rye rough.â€� That’s exactly what players faced in 1999, which is one reason Duval’s victory was so meaningful to him. “It was an extreme test of patience,â€� he said. “I have a lot of pride in how I played and held it together.â€� High winds buffeted the course on the weekend, increasing the challenge. Only two players, Duval and Scott Gump, finished under par. Duval’s total of 3-under 285 (69-69-74-73) was enough for a two-shot victory. That week’s 74.7 scoring average also is the highest in the course’s history. Only Carnoustie — where a controversial setup produced a winning score of 6 over par in The Open Championship — played more difficult in 1999. Duval’s final-round 73 was the highest final-round score by a PLAYERS champion on the Stadium Course. It was good enough to earn him his 10th win in his last 33 starts. (He also was victorious the following week, but only won twice more on TOUR. His final win came at the 2001 Open Championship.) Players knew early in the week that TPC Sawgrass was going to provide a thorough test. Defending champion Justin Leonard said he had trouble finding balls he dropped in the rough during practice rounds.  “The rough will be a problem if you go in it this week,â€� said Ernie Els, “especially with the greens being this firm.â€� Duval’s response when asked about the course conditions? “I have always found out the rough isn’t so bad in the middle of the fairways,â€� he said. His confidence was well-deserved. He won his first start of the season, the Sentry Tournament of Champions, by nine shots. Then he fired a final-round 59 to win his next start, the Desert Classic. With Woods just beginning to emerge from dramatic swing changes, Duval was considered by many to be the best player in the world, even if it didn’t become official until after THE PLAYERS. What does it feel like to go on such a run? “It becomes pretty easy,â€� he said in a recent interview with PGATOUR.COM. “There’s a hyper-focus. You see your targets as clear as you ever will and you know precisely what it is you’re trying to do. There’s a lot of emptiness in your mind, if you will. Some clarity. It all kind of ties together.â€� A New Era: THE PLAYERS and our Gold Standard When Duval arrived at TPC Sawgrass, he was ranked in the top 10 in driving distance, driving accuracy and greens in regulation.  And, as good as he was at going low – he was 52 under par in his first two starts of the year – he also appreciated the toughest conditions. “It boils down to the essence of the game. What did you shoot?â€� he said in a recent interview with PGATOUR.COM. “That’s the thing I like about those tests. Everybody makes jokes that there’s no pictures on the scorecard. Well, that’s the truth. This game is about what you shoot. Those setups like that, you can’t worry about how you’re hitting it. You can’t worry about anything other than making a score.â€� Duval started the tournament with consecutive 69s. He was in second place at the halfway mark, one shot behind Joe Ozaki.  On Saturday, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees, into the mid-60s, and wind gusts reached 20 mph. Leaves blowing across the green would sometimes strike golf balls and send them offline. “You just have to hit great golf shots,â€� said Payne Stewart. “If you don’t, you’re extremely penalized.â€� Duval’s 74 beat Ozaki by seven shots. Ozaki was one of 14 players to shoot in the 80s that Saturday. The 76.2 scoring average was the second-toughest single day in TPC Sawgrass’ history. Over the weekend, there were more scores in the 80s (19) than under par (12). Bob Friend had both, shooting 87-70. Fred Couples was the only player to break 70 on the weekend. Duval took a one-shot lead into the final round. He had trouble closing out tournaments earlier in his career, but those days were behind him. He’d converted five consecutive 54-hole leads into victory. “My memories from Sunday are about trying to survive,â€� he said recently. He had to make a 15-foot putt for bogey on the par-3 eighth and was in trouble again on the par-5 ninth after hitting his second shot into a bunker. Squeezing his 100-yard shot into a small gap in the trees was his best option. “It may have been 3 feet, 4 feet wide,â€� he said. “It wasn’t very big. But I didn’t know what else to do at that point. I thought, ‘Well, let’s see if we can pull this off. If you can, you have a chance to maybe win this golf tournament. If not, you’re probably going to be out of it.’â€� Duval did well to hit it in the greenside bunker. He holed the next shot for an improbable birdie.  He was just one shot ahead when he reached the 17th tee, though. His long history with THE PLAYERS paid off there. Duval, who grew up in Jacksonville, had been coming to the tournament approximately 20 years. His father, Bob, used to work in the scoring tent, and David served as a marker one year. (Bob actually won on PGA TOUR Champions the same day his son was winning THE PLAYERS.) Gump, playing in the second-to-last group, had watched his tee shot land on the Island Green, but trickle into the water. Duval knew there was only a small area where he could land his ball to avoid a similar fate. “The only way to play that hole was to land it just over the bunker. If you hit it up top, it would bounce right over and go into the water. If you hit it down below, it would stay there and you’re going to three-putt,â€� he said. “It was the only spot you could hit the ball. I was proud to pull that off.” “I remember watching Nick Price when he won in 1993. When he got to 17, he got his yardage, pulled his club and hit his shot. He was decisive. If anything, speed up your routine and be decisive.â€� He hit his pitching wedge to the perfect spot. The 7-foot birdie putt gave him a two-shot lead as he walked to the 18th tee. He got up-and-down from behind the green to complete the victory. And now he hopes players will face a similar test on THE PLAYERS’ return to March. “It should be an extreme test,â€� he said. “And that’s precisely what it was.â€�

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For the record, Tom Hoge has seen the movie. And let’s be real. Isn’t that what you want to ask him when you find out he’s from Fargo, North Dakota? Yes, that Fargo. The city where Hoge grew up is the setting for the darkly comic 1996 crime film written and directed by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. The quirky movie, which stars William H. Macy and Frances McDormand, who won an Academy Award for her role, has become something of a cult classic. And no matter where he goes – Hoge now lives in Fort Worth, Texas – when he tells someone where he’s from the scenario is the same. “The first reaction is usually the movie, yes,â€� Hoge says with a wry smile. “And then the second statement is that I’m the first person they’ve ever met from North Dakota. “So I’m kind of ready for those two all the time.â€� Of course, with former North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz leading the Philadelphia Eagles into the Super Bowl on Sunday, the  sports landscape is changing a bit. But he grew up in Bismark and the only movie by that name is a 1940 film about the prime minister of Prussia. So, it’s just not the same. That said, “Fargoâ€� wasn’t filmed in North Dakota’s most populous city. The movie was actually shot around Minneapolis-St. Paul and in the town of Brainerd, Minnesota, which is about 90 minutes away from Fargo. “It’s kind of more out in the country than we would like to claim in Fargo,â€� Hoge said with a smile. “But it was pretty funny. A little different. Dark humor, for sure.â€� Fargo’s visitors center even has an exhibit that includes several of the original scripts, as well as few props. Among those is the wood chipper which the organization’s website calls the “most notorious prop in cinematic history.â€�  Hoge actually was born in Statesville, North Carolina, but moved to Fargo when he was 6 months old. He lived in North Dakota full-time until 2007 when he went to Fort Worth to play golf at Texas Christian University. He’s lived there ever since. At its best, the golf season in Fargo – which was voted as “America’s Toughest Weather Cityâ€� in a 2011 poll on The Weather Channel — only runs from mid-April to mid-November. Hoge can remember high school tournaments as late as in May that were snowed out but he made the most of the days when Mother Nature cooperated. “I kind of laugh, frost delays in Phoenix and places like that when it’s 40 or 45 degrees,â€� Hoge says. “I remember days out playing golf when it was 25 degrees in Fargo. “The golf courses probably didn’t like it that much but I was always trying to get out there and play.â€� Hoge started playing golf when he was 3 years old. He and his brother Charlie would tag along, hitting a few shots here and there, when their parents went to Fargo Country Club. He was inspired by Tiger Woods’ first Masters win and by the time he was 10, Hoge could be found hanging out at the golf course whenever there wasn’t any snow on the ground. “It doesn’t sound like it, Fargo, North Dakota being a golf town, but our golf club had a par-three course where the holes were 60 to 125 yards long and kids could go play that as much as they wanted,â€� he says. “It really was a good spot to grow up and learn how to play.â€� In fact, Hoge estimates, he’s one of 5 or 10 golfers from Fargo who went on to play NCAA Division I golf despite being limited by the relatively short season. A couple played on the Nationwide Tour, as did Hoge, but he is the first to make it to the PGA TOUR full-time. “There were a few times in the winter where I’d be trying to go to play in tournaments in Arizona or somewhere and there’d be snow on the ground,â€� Hoge remembers. “But I’d just kind of shovel the snow away and hit a few balls. “On more than one occasion I would say I’d be the only person on the course every day. But I always wanted to play on the PGA TOUR so I’d use whatever opportunities I had to get better.â€� When the snow piled up – Fargo had to dig out from a record 117 inches of the white stuff during the winter of 1996-97 – Hoge did have another option. He could go to the Sports Bubble and hit off mats at the indoor driving range. While it may not have been satisfying seeing the ball just go 50 yards or so, it was a good place to work on the fundamentals of the game. And it was warm. “So there’s parts when I look back on it growing up in Fargo that were very beneficial to me,â€� Hoge says. “Obviously, you’re limited just not being able to practice and get the experience other guys would in Texas and Florida or other parts of the country. “But it was a good spot. You learn work ethic up there pretty good just because your time is so much shorter than everyone else.â€� Hoge, who is quick to point out that he doesn’t miss the snow or the winters in North Dakota, is currently in the midst of the best year of his TOUR career. He’s had two top-10s in eight starts, including a tie for third at the Sony Open in Hawaii where he held the third-round lead. The way Hoge sees it, weathering the brutal winters in a city that is just 160 miles from the Canadian border, builds character and that has helped him along the way. “If you’d look at kind of the way my career’s been there’s been a lot of times where I’d been struggling and kind of close to losing status,â€� Hoge says. “And going back to the Web.com Tour finals this year I had to birdie seven of the last 12 holes to get back out on the PGA TOUR. “And I think there’s some of that fight that growing up in North Dakota instilled in me.â€�

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