Lee Hodges maintained all week he had nothing to lose at TPC Twin Cities.
Coming into the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota, Hodges sat 74th in the FedEx Cup standings. With only two weeks left until the playoffs began, it was now or never for the 28-year-old to make a run.
He did just that in record fashion.
Hodges ran away with the 3M Open for his first PGA Tour title, leading wire-to-wire and finishing at 24-under 260, a new 3M Open tournament scoring record. During the week, he set the 36- and 54-hole scoring marks and will move to 33rd in the FedEx Cup standings, on the cusp on earning a spot at East Lake for the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
On Sunday, Hodges shot 4-under 67 and at one point led by seven strokes. His lead was five heading into the final round. J.T. Poston tripled the closing par 5, dropping him into a tie for second at 17 under with Martin Laird and Kevin Streelman.
Hodges is the first player to go wire-to-wire on Tour since Poston did last year at the John Deere Classic.
The shot of the day came on the par-5 12th, when Hodges hit his approach from 257 yards out to 3 feet for an eagle, his second of the day. On the par-5 sixth, he rolled in an 11-footer for his first eagle.
The second eagle essentially put the tournament away, as if he hadn’t done it already. Hodges was 1 over in the five holes between eagles, and his lead went from seven strokes down to five in that span. However, he had a six-stroke lead with six holes to play and cruised to the clubhouse.
Alabama men’s golf coach Jay Seawell flew into the Twin Cities on Sunday to watch Hodges, who played for the Crimson Tide from 2016-18.
Beau Hossler had the round of the day, tying the tournament scoring record with a 9-under 62 that included eight straight birdies from No. 9-16. He shot 29 on the back nine to finish at 13 under for the week. Defending champion Tony Finau shot 1-under 70 on Sunday and finished T-7.
However, the day belonged to Hodges, who on the 18th hole hit his drive right and had to lay up. He then hit a wedge to a slope behind the flag and nearly holed the approach for another eagle.
He settled for a tap-in par, and the celebration began.