Fargo golfer Tom Hoge finishes his first Masters on a down note

AUGUSTA, Ga. – There will be a time when Tom Hoge will fondly remember his first week at the Masters. Immediately following a bogey-double bogey finish was probably not that time.

On his way to a fourth solid round, Hoge missed a par putt on 17 and three-putted for a double bogey on 18 to finish with a 73 that easily could have been a 70.

His rounds for the week: 73-74-75-73, for a total of 7 over par.

The scores themselves are deceptive. Hoge hung tough on Friday and Saturday, both tough scoring days, but was disappointed with his final round on a course set up for birdies.

"It was fun to be here," said Hoge, a two-time Minnesota State Amateur champion from Fargo. "I'm disappointed with how I played here for the week. I just didn't score very well all week."

Would he change his strategy if he could? "Not a lot," he said. "I think I had a pretty good game plan for it all. A lot of it comes down to momentum, making those 6-7-8-foot par putts to keep your round going. I seemed to miss a lot of those this week."

He did birdie the par-5 second in all four rounds. "I guess I like that chip shot from down there short right of the green," he said. "Made a few nice putts there. A little more luck there than I had on some of the other par-5s."

Hoge said he planned to return to his rental house and pack, because he's playing the next two weeks. This summer, he is also scheduled to play the British Open, then the following week at the 3M Open in Blaine.