Midwest-like weather hasn't put Tom Hoge off the Masters

AUGUSTA, GA. – Tom Hoge's plan for Saturday night in Augusta?

"Go warm up," he said.

Hoge wasn't talking about going to the driving range.

A cold front reduced temperatures to the 40s for much of Saturday at Augusta National. Masters green was complemented by blue lips, and a number of fans wore mittens and carried blankets through the gates.

Hoge, who played in bad weather plenty of times growing up in Fargo, bogeyed the 18th to shoot a 75, leaving him at 6 over entering the weekend.

Saturday, he hit his most remarkable shot of the tournament. After driving into the trees on the left side of the seventh fairway, he hit his approach into the deep front bunker.

He would play to a front pin on a fast green. Hoge dunked his wedge shot for an unlikely birdie on one of the course's toughest holes.

"Yeah, I was just trying to get up there somewhere on the right side of the green," he said. "I was surprised it came up short on the second shot. I had a good lie in the bunker on the upslope, so I could kind of throw it up there towards the hole. I flew it a little further than I would have liked, but pretty cool for that one to go in."

Hoge has had almost a week of practicing and playing the course as it is set up for a major championship. Does his newfound experience lead him to reevaluate any strategies or club selections?

"Not a lot," he said. "I would say I felt pretty comfortable going into it and still have liked the game plan. I just wish I could have made a few more putts and hit a few shots closer here and there. Just a little better execution."

Most people who watch the Masters do so on television or via streaming, and see mostly players who are performing well enough to contend. It's always instructive to follow a player who is having to slog through Augusta National's challenges just to make the cut, or to feel good about the weekend.

Hoge made a textbook par at the difficult first hole, then made birdie with virtually the same up-and-down on No. 2 that he executed on Friday, chipping over the front right bunker and making his putt.

The short par-4 third demonstrated how subtly difficult Augusta National can be. Hoge hit driver down the right side of the fairway. He hit it just long enough that it ran into the rough.

He had a wedge into a back pin location. With gusting winds and an inability to control the spin out of the rough, his shot flew well past the green. He hit an indifferent chip and wound up with bogey on an innocent-looking hole.

Having made the cut but residing nowhere near contention, Hoge said he's determined to enjoy his time on the course, and at night with a large group of friends and family members in town.

"I guess they're all used to this North Dakota weather," he said. "Tomorrow will be a nice day for us. We'll get some sunshine and some heat back."

Hoge's victory at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am has given him plenty of career options. He said he plans to play in the Scottish Open, then the British Open, then return to Minnesota, home of many of his best moments as an amateur, to play in the 3M Open at the TPC Twin Cities.