THE AMERICAN EXPRESS

January 24, 2026

Tom Hoge

PGA WEST Pete Dye Stadium Course

Quick Quotes

Q. Really solid round today. Can you talk a little bit about the conditions out there and what was working for you.

TOM HOGE: Yeah, I felt like we really had a break going first off here today at La Quinta for the conditions. We probably got seven or eight holes in before the wind really started to pick up at all. Unfortunately, I got off to a, felt like a bad start, even par through like five, six holes. Felt like I was kind of falling behind, needed to get going.

Then on 16 I holed a nice bunker shot across the green, started to hit a few better shots after that, and kind of off we went.

Q. Was there anything you worked on in the off-season that you think you noticed made a difference this week now that you're starting to get more in the rhythm of things?

TOM HOGE: Yeah, not a whole lot. I'm one of the old guys out here now, so I kind of knew what to expect. It's more the preparation I've had in previous years. I felt like I played well on the West Coast here some previous years, felt like I had a good formula for having success here right out of the gate, so nice to see it pay off a little bit.

Q. How was it playing with Eric today? Were you guys kind of feeding off each other?

TOM HOGE: For sure. For three days I just joked he kind of dragged me along there, and I just tried to keep up with him. I'll try to do the same tomorrow. It was fun, a lot of fun out there. Had some great amateurs with us. Had good weather until this wind picked up here the last few holes.

Q. Going into the final round in contention, what's the game plan there?

TOM HOGE: You got to be a little bit for defensive there on the Stadium Course with some trouble there off the tees. And then the greens are a little firmer there than we've had at La Quinta and Nicklaus Course. So know that you got to hit some good quality shots to get some scoring chances, and then hopefully make some putts because you know you have to make a lot of birdies out there.