The caravan of supporters followed Hodges all 18 holes. They were there on the second hole when Hodges stuffed an iron to 5 feet for his opening birdie of the day. Hodges insisted there were no nerves. That was the first indication.
They cheered vociferously on the par-5 sixth as Hodges knocked a 3-wood to 12 feet and sank an eagle to take a seven-shot lead. He steadied with pars at 10 and 11. Then his gallery went wild as Hodges took that same 3-wood and hit it to 3 feet for his second eagle of the day on the par-5 12th.

“Those were two of the greatest shots I ever hit,” Hodges said of approach shots that set up eagle.

His most memorable shot might have come on the 18th, though. Hodges spent Saturday evening vowing to be aggressive. In his mind, passiveness cost him a chance at the 2022 American Express, where he was the 54-hole co-leader. If the two eagles weren’t aggressive enough, Hodges stuck his approach on the 18th to two feet for a concluding birdie. Not only had he won, he won by seven — the largest margin of victory on TOUR since Rory McIlroy’s 2019 RBC Canadian Open win.