Lee Hodges 'proud to be from Alabama' after first PGA Tour win

This will be a weekend Lee Hodges won’t soon forget. The former Alabama golfer won his first PGA Tour event, claiming the top spot at the 3M Open on Sunday. When he sunk his final putt to win the tournament, he gave a major shoutout to his home state.

Hodges won the 3M Open by shooting -24 over the four-day event. His former Crimson Tide head coach, Jay Seawell, flew in to see Hodges win his first tournament. It was a special day all around.

“I’m just proud to be from Alabama. I mean, it’s unbelievable, the support I get from home, Coach Seawell, I didn’t see him until right now,” Hodges told CBS. “I just saw my buddy Robbie’s here. Man, I’m just happy everybody’s here and everybody back home is going insane.

“This has been a dream week. I’ve got the best caddie in the world. I’ve got the best wife in the world. I’ve got — Mom and Dad, sorry that you all aren’t here. I wish you were. I’ve got the best of everybody. I mean, I’ve got the best team in the whole world and they work so hard, and I couldn’t do without them.”

From high school sweethearts to their first PGA TOUR win ❤️

A special moment for Lee Hodges and his wife, Savannah @3MOpen. pic.twitter.com/3TyQlmBXih

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 30, 2023

Hodges opened the tournament in dominant fashion, playing two bogey-free rounds on Thursday and Friday. He carded a 63 in the opening round and followed it up with a 64 the next day, entering the weekend at -15.

Though Hodges carded a few bogeys on Saturday, he still managed a 5-under-par 66 on Saturday, getting to -20 for the tournament. He concluded the 3M Open in strong fashion, shooting a 67 to end the event at -24.

Hodges defeat his opponents by seven strokes to win his first PGA Tour event. Not a bad weekend for the former Alabama star.

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.”