Scott Mabon Hoch ( ; born November 24, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who represented his country in the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

in 1997 and 2002.

Early life

Hoch was born in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. While attending Needham B. Broughton High School, he won the 1973

North Carolina High School Athletic Association The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) is the governing organization of high school athletics in North Carolina, United States. The association maintains the official rule books and governs the officiating standards across ...

(NCHSAA) men's golf state championship.

Amateur career

Hoch was a member of the golf team at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

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

Hoch turned professional in 1979 after competing in the U.S. Amateur. Hoch has won several tournaments, including the

Western Open The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour. The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the ye ...

, 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 The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

. 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 The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

at the "home of golf" at

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

. 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

. 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 Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, 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)

*''Note: The 1982 USF&G Classic was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.'' PGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

European Tour wins (1)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (3)

PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (0–1)

Korean Tour wins (2)

*1990 Korea Open *1991 Korea Open

Other wins (2)

Other playoff record (0–2)

PGA Tour Champions wins (4)

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–1)

Results in major championships

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

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1983 Masters – 1987 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (4 times)

Results in The Players Championship

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

Results in World Golf Championships

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 The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

(winners) * Walker Cup:

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

(winners) Professional *

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

(winners),

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

(winners),

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

UBS Cup The UBS Cup was a team golf tournament contested by the United States and a team representing the "Rest of the World" which ran from 2001 to 2004. In 2001 and 2002 it was called the UBS Warburg Cup. Six golfers on each side had to be 50 or over, and ...

: 2001 (winners), 2002 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2004 (winners)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoch, Scott American male golfers Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Raleigh, North Carolina Golfers from Orlando, Florida Needham B. Broughton High School alumni 1955 births Living people Presidents Cup competitors for the United States 20th-century American sportsmen

Early life

Amateur career

Professional career

Senior career

Personal life

Amateur wins

Professional wins (23)

PGA Tour wins (11)

European Tour wins (1)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (3)

Korean Tour wins (2)

Other wins (2)

PGA Tour Champions wins (4)

Results in major championships

Summary

Results in The Players Championship

Results in World Golf Championships

U.S. national team appearances

See also

References

External links