Two-Time MGA Amateur Champ Hoge Tallies First Top-10 of 2026 PGA Tour Season at American Express

  LA QUINTA, Calif. – A final-round 70 helped North Dakota native Tom Hoge post his first top-10  of the 2026 season Sunday at the American Express, finishing six shots off the lead in a share of eighth.

Hoge, winner of back-to-back Minnesota Golf Association Amateur championships in 2009 and 2010, opened the championship with an 8-under 64 Thursday and would enter Sunday’s final round in a share of sixth place.

The 36-year-old Hoge began his final round with three birdies over his first 12 holes before taking a double-bogey at the 13th to fall back to 20-under for the championship.

Hoge answered by converting a pair of birdie chances from inside of 15 feet at the 15th and 16th to reach 22-under.

Unable to get up-and-down to save par at the 18th, Hoge’s bogey at the last dropped him into a share of eighth with Sahith Theegala, Haotong Li, Russel Henley and Austin Smotherman at 21-under 267.

Making the 317th start of his career at the American Express, Hoge has amassed more than $25 million in career earnings with one victory (2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am), a pair of runner-up finishes and 51 top-10s.

Currently ranked No. 89 in the Official World Golf Rankings, Hoge finished the 2025 season 48th in the FedEx Cup standings.

Making his first career start at the championship, Scottie Scheffler cruised to a four-stroke victory after beginning the final round one shot off the lead, posting a 6-under 66 on the final day to collect his 20th PGA Tour Victory in just his 151st career start.

The only players to reach 20 victories in fewer starts are Tiger Woods (95) and Jack Nicklaus (127). Scheffler also joins Woods Nicklaus as the only players with 20 career victories, including four major wins, before the age of 30.

“There's always a certain amount of rust when it comes to playing competitive golf. I think you come out here, you can simulate as best you can at home, but you can only get into the heat of the moment when you're posting a score and you're in contention when you're at a tournament,” said Scheffler, who won the first start of the calendar season for the first time in his career Sunday.

Scheffler, who has held the world’s top ranking for over 135 weeks, moves past Greg Norman for the second-longest consecutive streak behind Tiger Woods’ record of 181 consecutive weeks.

“I think it's really cool to step up there on the first tee—and I was just a kid dreaming of playing golf on the PGA Tour, so to be able to come out here and play in final groups, play in front of crowds, play on the tour that I dreamed of playing on is a really cool feeling,” Scheffler said following his win Sunday.  

“Being in the arena, being in contention is a lot of fun, just because it's something that we practice and work so hard for, so when you get in those moments you're prepared and you're able to enjoy the competition. This is something that is fun for me, but it can be really hard when things don't go your way. It's a lot more fun winning than losing.”