Scott Mabon Hoch ( ; born November 24, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who represented his country in the Ryder Cup in 1997 and 2002.
Early life In 1955, Hoch was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. While attending Needham B. Broughton High School, he won the 1973 North Carolina High School Athletic Association (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. 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 In 1979, Hoch turned professional 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. 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. 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. He also has runner-up finishes at the 1987 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, 1994 Casio World Open on the Japan Golf Tour, 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."
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. 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.
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.
Amateur wins 1977 Northeast Amateur
Professional wins (23) PGA Tour wins (11) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Jul 20, 1980Quad Cities Open−14 (63-66-68-69=266)3 strokes Curtis Strange2Apr 25, 1982USF&G Classic−10 (67-69-70=206)2 strokes Bob Shearer, Tom Watson3Jul 22, 1984Miller High Life QCO−14 (67-67-66-66=266)5 strokes George Archer, Vance Heafner, Dave Stockton4Apr 30, 1989Las Vegas Invitational−24 (69-64-68-65-70=336)Playoff Robert Wrenn5Feb 20, 1994Bob Hope Chrysler Classic −26 (66-62-70-66-70=334)3 strokes Lennie Clements, Jim Gallagher Jr., Fuzzy Zoeller6Sep 3, 1995Greater Milwaukee Open−15 (68-71-65-65=269)3 strokes Marco Dawson7Jul 14, 1996Michelob Championship at Kingsmill −19 (64-68-66-67=265)4 strokes Tom Purtzer8Aug 31, 1997Greater Milwaukee Open (2)−16 (70-66-66-66=268)1 stroke Loren Roberts, David Sutherland9Apr 29, 2001Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic−16 (68-68-67-69=272)1 stroke Brett Quigley, Scott Simpson10Jul 8, 2001Advil Western Open−21 (69-68-66-64=267)1 stroke Davis Love III11Mar 9, 2003Ford Championship at Doral−17 (66-70-66-69=271)Playoff Jim Furyk
PGA Tour playoff record (2–2) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11989Masters Tournament Nick FaldoLost to birdie on second extra hole21989Las Vegas Invitational Robert WrennWon with birdie on fifth extra hole31995Shell Houston Open Payne StewartLost to par on first extra hole42003Ford Championship at Doral Jim FurykWon with birdie on third extra hole
European Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunners-up1Jul 30, 1995Heineken Dutch Open−15 (65-70-69-65=269)2 strokes Michael Jonzon, Sam Torrance
PGA of Japan Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Nov 14, 1982Taiheiyo Club Masters−10 (73-70-66-69=278)3 strokes Masahiro Kuramoto2Nov 28, 1982Casio World Open−6 (72-71-69-70=282)1 stroke Tsuneyuki Nakajima3Nov 30, 1986Casio World Open (2)−12 (67-72-68-69=276)6 strokes José María Olazábal
PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult11985Casio World Open Wayne Grady, Hubert Green, Nobumitsu YuharaGreen won with par on second extra holeGrady and Yuhara eliminated by par on first hole
Korean Tour wins (2) 1990 Korea Open 1991 Korea Open
Other wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunners-up1Dec 14, 1986Chrysler Team Championship(with Gary Hallberg)−32 (61-63-64-63=251)1 stroke Mike Hulbert and Bob Tway2Dec 14, 2008Merrill Lynch Shootout(with Kenny Perry)−31 (65-60-60=185)4 strokes J. B. Holmes and Boo Weekley
Other playoff record (0–2) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult11985Chrysler Team Championship(with Gary Hallberg) Charlie Bolling and Brad Fabel, Jim Colbert and Tom Purtzer, Raymond Floyd and Hal Sutton, John Fought and Pat McGowanFloyd/Sutton won with birdie on first extra hole22000Franklin Templeton Shootout(with Carlos Franco) Brad Faxon and Scott McCarronLost to birdie on first extra hole
PGA Tour Champions wins (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1May 6, 2007FedEx Kinko's Classic−15 (67-66-68=201)2 strokes D. A. Weibring2Feb 10, 2008Allianz Championship−14 (67-67-68=202)1 stroke Brad Bryant, Bruce Lietzke3Feb 17, 2008ACE Group Classic−14 (68-66-68=202)Playoff Brad Bryant, Tom Jenkins, Tom Kite4Apr 28, 2019Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf(with Tom Pernice Jr.)−23 (62-48-46=156) 5 strokes Paul Broadhurst and Kirk Triplett, Carlos Franco and Vijay Singh
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12008ACE Group Classic Brad Bryant, Tom Jenkins, Tom KiteWon with birdie on first extra hole22011Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf(with Kenny Perry) David Eger and Mark McNultyLost to par on second extra hole
Results in major championships Tournament19751976197719781979Masters TournamentT34U.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipPGA Championship
Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989Masters TournamentT37T27T53CUT2U.S. OpenCUTWDT48T34T36T21T13The Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipCUTCUTT61T48T12T41T3T25T7
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999Masters TournamentT14T35CUTT7T538T16T44U.S. OpenT86CUTT5T13T56T7T10CUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipCUTT68CUTPGA ChampionshipT49T43CUTT6CUTCUTT61T6T29T21
Tournament20002001200220032004Masters TournamentCUTT37CUTCUTU.S. OpenT16T16T5CUTT53The Open ChampionshipCUTT8PGA ChampionshipT74T7CUTT57WD
WD = Withdrew CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 1 0 2 3 5 18 13U.S. Open 0 0 0 2 6 11 23 16The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 2PGA Championship 0 0 1 1 5 8 24 17Totals 0 1 1 5 15 25 70 48 Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1983 Masters – 1987 PGA) Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (4 times)
Results in The Players Championship Tournament198119821983198419851986198719881989The Players ChampionshipT37T13CUTT44CUTT14T39CUTCUT Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999The Players ChampionshipWDCUTCUTCUTWDT192T5T6 Tournament20002001200220032004The Players ChampionshipT13T7T4T42
CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament199920002001200220032004Match PlayR32QFR64QFR64ChampionshipT7T17NT1T23T70InvitationalT23T21T55T51 1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = Tied NT = No tournament
U.S. national team appearances Amateur Eisenhower Trophy: 1978 (winners) Walker Cup: 1979 (winners)
Professional Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998 Ryder Cup: 1997, 2002 UBS Cup: 2001 (winners), 2002 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2004 (winners)
See also Fall 1979 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
Notes
References
External links