Jack Nicklaus is no longer the only Upper Arlington alum, Ohio State alum and Scioto Country Club member to play on the PGA TOUR!
Bo Hoag, 31, a 2002 alum of UAHS and 2006 alum of Ohio State won the Korn Ferry Tour’s WinCo Foods Portland Open on Sunday to earn his first PGA TOUR card.
An All-American at Ohio State, Hoag turned pro in 2007. He would go on to play mini-tours and other developmental tours before earning Korn Ferry Tour membership in 2017. He also played in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational at Scarlet and the Memorial Tournament on exemptions.
Hoag’s 2019 KFT season was one of the most consistent on the TOUR in recent memory. Seven top-20’s and no top 10’s heading into this week wasn’t exactly the premier way to get into the Korn Ferry Tour’s Top 25, but that all changed on Sunday.
Coming into the week #31 on the Points List, Hoag needed a two-way tie for 5th or solo 6th to creep into the Top 25. After a 63 on Saturday left him in a tie for 3rd, Hoag was in a nervewrecking, yet great position to finally make it to the PGA TOUR.
On Sunday, Hoag played better and objectively more relaxed than the rest, and it provided his first win on the Korn Ferry Tour at a critical time.
His 22-under total broke the tournament record at the Portland Open, and jumped him from #31 to #7 on the Regular Season Points List, giving him quality priority status for the PGA TOUR in the 2019-2020 season.
With the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational next week at Ohio State University Golf Club in Columbus, the celebration for Bo, friends and family will certainly be a good one.
“It will be a heck of a celebration going back to Columbus, the Scarlet Course where I played college,” Hoag noted on the broadcast.
Hoag will likely make his first PGA TOUR start as a member next month at the A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier in White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia.
Hoag, a friend of the Nicklaus family has had breakfast cooked for him by Barbara Nicklaus herself, and has played golf with Jack numerous times. The longtime Scioto Country Club member still makes his home in Columbus, and also practices in Florida during the winter months.
