Former Alabama golfer Lee Hodges wins 3M Open, first PGA Tour event

Former Alabama golfer Lee Hodges is a PGA Tour winner. The 28-year-old claimed the top spot at the 3M Open, winning his first-ever tournament on Tour.

Hodges was dominant on the golf course in Minnesota (TPC Twin Cities) from the opening round. He started the 3M Open shooting a bogey-free round and carding an 8-under-par 63. His second day proved to be just as successful, shooting -7 to get to -15 for the weekend.

Once again, he played a bogey-free round.

Though he carded a few red numbers on Saturday, the former Alabama star carded five birdies on the back side and ended his day with a 66. That put Hodges at -20 entering the final round of 3M Open.

Hodges didn’t have much difficulty on Sunday, shooting a 67 and finishing the tournament at -24. He won the 3M Open by 7 strokes.

Sunday’s victory wasn’t just special for Hodges because it was his first tournament win on the PGA Tour. His former coach at Alabama, Jay Seawell, was also in attendance. He flew in for Sunday’s round to see his former player win his first tournament.

“He is really good. I think he’ll be out here 20 years,” Seawell said of Hodges during a CBS interview. “He’s a better person than golfer. … I think he’s just a special person.”

Hodges’ best finish prior to winning this weekend’s 3M Open was third place in a PGA Tour event. He also had a pair of top-10 finishes prior to Sunday.

Alabama golf coach raves about Lee Hodges

Hodges enjoyed a great career at Alabama but his time in Tuscaloosa almost never came to fruition. Seawell said it was his wife who convinced him to recruit the young golfer.

“It’s great to see Lee. I’m just so excited for him. He’s such a good young man. The great part about my job is you get to meet these (guys) when they’re just kids and the light’s all in front of them, their dreams. I know this has been one of Lee’s dreams since he was a kid. I’m hoping he pulls it through because I really would love to hug his neck at the end of this, because it’s something I know is very special and he’s wanted for a long time.

“I wasn’t smart enough the first time. My wife actually — he’s the same age as my son, I think he’s actually a year older. But my son played junior golf with him and we were having a chance to recruit him. He was kind of a tweener, kind of a little bit of a late bloomer and we took another guy, because you only have four and a half (scholarships) and you can’t recruit everybody. My wife goes, ‘Why are you not recruiting Lee Hodges?’ I’m like, ‘Well, I just like this guy better.’

“She just called me dumb. She said, ‘You’re just dumb. This guy’s so nice and he’s going to be a great player.’ He went to UAB — well, he committed and then he actually got really good after he committed to them and she goes, ‘I told you you were dumb.’ He had a great start at UAB and when Allen Murray left to go to Washington, he called and I wasn’t dumb one more time. I learned — it was a little slow but my wife told me, ‘You finally get it right.’ When he wanted to come to ‘Bama, I made sure we were going to do it this time.”