Scott Hoch

Scott Mabon Hoch (born November 24, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who represented his country in the Ryder Cup in 1997 and 2002.

Scott Hoch
Personal information
Full nameScott Mabon Hoch
Born (1955-11-24) November 24, 1955
Raleigh, North Carolina
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceOrlando, Florida
Career
CollegeWake Forest University
Turned professional1979
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins23
Highest ranking11 (April 6, 1997)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour11
European Tour1
Japan Golf Tour3
PGA Tour Champions4
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament2nd: 1989
PGA ChampionshipT3: 1987
U.S. OpenT5: 1993, 2002
The Open ChampionshipT8: 2002
Achievements and awards
Vardon Trophy1986
Byron Nelson Award1986

Early life

Hoch was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. While attending Needham B. Broughton High School, he won the 1973 NCHSAA Men's Golf State Championship.

Amateur career

Hoch was a member of the golf team at Wake Forest University before graduating in 1978. In 1978, Hoch reached the final of the U.S. Amateur, losing 5 & 4 to John Cook.[2] His good play earned him membership for top international team competitions like the 1978 Eisenhower Trophy and the 1979 Walker Cup. The Americans won both events. His achievements in 1978 led to an invitation to the 1979 Masters Tournament where he tied for 34th place, the second low amateur only behind Bobby Clampett.

Professional career

Hoch turned professional in 1979 after competing in the U.S. Amateur.

Hoch has won several tournaments, including the Western Open, the Ford Championship at Doral, the Heineken Dutch Open and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. He also won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average in 1986. He has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Hoch is widely known for missing a two-foot-long putt that would have won the 1989 Masters Tournament on the first playoff hole, which he lost to Nick Faldo on the next hole.[3] At the 1987 PGA Championship, Hoch three-putted the 18th hole on Sunday from inside of ten feet. A two-putt would have secured a playoff spot for him.

Hoch is also well known for his infamous quote regarding playing in The Open Championship at the "home of golf" at St Andrews. Hoch referred to this course, considered hallowed ground by most golfers around the world, as "the worst piece of mess" he had ever seen.[4] Partly due to his Open Championship criticism Hoch has been characterized as an "ugly American." However he has played extensively abroad and done fairly well, with three victories on the Japan Golf Tour, a victory at European Tour's 1995 Dutch Open, and multiple victories on the Korean Tour.[5] He also has runner-up finishes at the 1987 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, 1994 Casio World Open on the Japan Golf Tour,[6] 1995 New Zealand Open on the Australasian Tour, and the 1996 Dutch Open.

Hoch is the rare American golfer who has criticized the Ryder Cup. Before his participation in the 2002 event he described the Ryder Cup as "overrated" and thought that the competition had gotten too "inflammatory."[7]

Senior career

In May 2007, Hoch won his first Champions Tour event, the FedEx Kinko's Classic. In February 2008, he won his second and third events in consecutive weeks.

In April 2019, Hoch won at the age of 63 the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf with Tom Pernice Jr. This first win in 11 years made him the oldest winner on the Champions Tour.[8] Hoch's record held until October 2021, when Bernhard Langer broke it at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.

Personal life

In 1982, Hoch said that he feared he was going to die after an intruder came into his hotel room in Tucson, Arizona, held him and his wife, Sally, at gunpoint, and tied them up for an hour.[9]

In 1989, Hoch said that he was "really hurt" after being named "Least Popular Golfer" in a poll of Tour players conducted by the Dallas Times Herald.[9]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (23)

PGA Tour wins (11)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Jul 20, 1980 Quad Cities Open −14 (63-66-68-69=266) 3 strokes United States Curtis Strange
2 Apr 25, 1982 USF&G Classic −10 (67-69-70=206)* 2 strokes Australia Bob Shearer, United States Tom Watson
3 Jul 22, 1984 Miller High Life QCO −14 (67-67-66-66=266) 5 strokes United States George Archer, United States Vance Heafner,
United States Dave Stockton
4 Apr 30, 1989 Las Vegas Invitational −24 (69-64-68-65-70=336) Playoff United States Robert Wrenn
5 Feb 20, 1994 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic −26 (66-62-70-66-70=334) 3 strokes United States Lennie Clements, United States Jim Gallagher Jr.,
United States Fuzzy Zoeller
6 Sep 3, 1995 Greater Milwaukee Open −15 (68-71-65-65=269) 3 strokes United States Marco Dawson
7 Jul 14, 1996 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill −19 (64-68-66-67=265) 4 strokes United States Tom Purtzer
8 Aug 31, 1997 Greater Milwaukee Open (2) −16 (70-66-66-66=268) 1 stroke United States Loren Roberts, United States David Sutherland
9 Apr 29, 2001 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic −16 (68-68-67-69=272) 1 stroke United States Brett Quigley, United States Scott Simpson
10 Jul 8, 2001 Advil Western Open −21 (69-68-66-64=267) 1 stroke United States Davis Love III
11 Mar 9, 2003 Ford Championship at Doral −17 (66-70-66-69=271) Playoff United States Jim Furyk

*Note: The 1982 USF&G Classic was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.

PGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1989 Masters Tournament England Nick Faldo Lost to birdie on second extra hole
2 1989 Las Vegas Invitational United States Robert Wrenn Won with birdie on fifth extra hole
3 1995 Shell Houston Open United States Payne Stewart Lost to par on first extra hole
4 2003 Ford Championship at Doral United States Jim Furyk Won with birdie on third extra hole

European Tour wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1 Jul 30, 1995 Heineken Dutch Open −15 (65-70-69-65=269) 2 strokes Sweden Michael Jonzon, Scotland Sam Torrance

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1989 Masters Tournament England Nick Faldo Lost to birdie on second extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Nov 14, 1982 Taiheiyo Club Masters −10 (73-70-66-69=278) 3 strokes Japan Masahiro Kuramoto
2 Nov 28, 1982 Casio World Open −6 (72-71-69-70=282) 1 stroke Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima
3 Nov 30, 1986 Casio World Open (2) −12 (67-72-68-69=276) 6 strokes Spain José María Olazábal

PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 1985 Casio World Open Australia Wayne Grady, United States Hubert Green,
Japan Nobumitsu Yuhara		 Green won with par on second extra hole
Grady and Yuhara eliminated by par on first hole

Korean wins (2)

Other wins (2)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1 Dec 14, 1986 Chrysler Team Championship
(with United States Gary Hallberg)		 −32 (61-63-64-63=251) 1 stroke United States Mike Hulbert and United States Bob Tway
2 Dec 14, 2008 Merrill Lynch Shootout
(with United States Kenny Perry)		 −31 (65-60-60=185) 4 strokes United States J. B. Holmes and United States Boo Weekley

Other playoff record (0–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 1985 Chrysler Team Championship
(with United States Gary Hallberg)		 United States Charlie Bolling and United States Brad Fabel,
United States Jim Colbert and United States Tom Purtzer,
United States Raymond Floyd and United States Hal Sutton,
United States John Fought and United States Pat McGowan		 Floyd/Sutton won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2000 Franklin Templeton Shootout
(with Paraguay Carlos Franco)		 United States Brad Faxon and United States Scott McCarron Lost to birdie on first extra hole

PGA Tour Champions wins (4)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 May 6, 2007 FedEx Kinko's Classic −15 (67-66-68=201) 2 strokes United States D. A. Weibring
2 Feb 10, 2008 Allianz Championship −14 (67-67-68=202) 1 stroke United States Brad Bryant, United States Bruce Lietzke
3 Feb 17, 2008 The ACE Group Classic −14 (68-66-68=202) Playoff United States Brad Bryant, United States Tom Jenkins,
United States Tom Kite
4 Apr 28, 2019 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf
(with United States Tom Pernice Jr.)		 −23 (62-48-46=156) 5 strokes England Paul Broadhurst and United States Kirk Triplett,
Paraguay Carlos Franco and Fiji Vijay Singh

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2008 The ACE Group Classic United States Brad Bryant, United States Tom Jenkins,
United States Tom Kite		 Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2011 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf
(with United States Kenny Perry)		 United States David Eger and Republic of Ireland Mark McNulty Lost to par on second extra hole

Results in major championships
Tournament 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament T34
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament T37 T27 T53 CUT 2
U.S. Open CUT WD T48 T34 T36 T21 T13
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUT CUT T61 T48 T12 T41 T3 T25 T7
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament T14 T35 CUT T7 T5 38 T16 T44
U.S. Open T8 6 CUT T5 T13 T56 T7 T10 CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT T68 CUT
PGA Championship T49 T43 CUT T6 CUT CUT T61 T6 T29 T21
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Masters Tournament CUT T37 CUT CUT
U.S. Open T16 T16 T5 CUT T53
The Open Championship CUT T8
PGA Championship T74 T7 CUT T57 WD
  Top 10
  Did not play

WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary
TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament0102351813
U.S. Open00026112316
The Open Championship00001152
PGA Championship0011582417
Totals011515257048
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1983 Masters – 1987 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (4 times)

Results in The Players Championship
Tournament 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
The Players Championship T37 T13 CUT T44 CUT T14 T39 CUT CUT
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Players Championship WD CUT CUT CUT WD T19 2 T5 T6
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
The Players Championship T13 T7 T4 T42
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament199920002001200220032004
Match Play R32 QF R64 QF R64
Championship T7 T17 NT1 T23 T70
Invitational T23 T21 T55 T51

1Cancelled due to 9/11

  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References
  1. "Week 14 1997 Ending 6 Apr 1997" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  2. "Cook wins title over Scott Hoch". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). Associated Press. September 4, 1978. p. 3C.
  3. Gregory, Sean (April 9, 2008). "Hoch the Choke, 1989". Time. Archived from the original on April 14, 2008.
  4. Morfit, Cameron (January 17, 2007). "Scott Hoch Speaks Candidly About Tiger, CBS and Frank Chirkinian". Golf Magazine. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011.
  5. Shipnuck, Alan (July 16, 2001). "He's Got a Shot Scott Hoch, the last man you'd expect to take the British Open, moved into the ranks of the contenders with his Western win". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  6. "Scott Hoch – 1994". Official World Golf Ranking.
  7. Ferguson, Doug (September 24, 2002). "Scott Hoch Gets Ryder Cup Attention". The Edwardsville Intelligencer. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  8. Strege, John (April 28, 2019). "Scott Hoch, 63, becomes oldest senior tour winner, teams with Tom Pernice to win Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  9. Reilly, Rick (June 12, 1989). "Hoch As...in Choke". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
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