In her Ardmore, Alabama, home, Savannah Hodges will occasionally hear a knock at the front door.
When she answers the door and sees a bunch of small children on the other side, she usually gets the response “Is Mr. Lee home?”
Savannah refers to Mr. Lee just as Lee. Across the street in the small town, her high school lover. The man who, despite being a PGA TOUR professional, relocated with her to their 1,500-person hometown to be nearer to family.
Hodges is one of the very few professional sportsmen to have ever called the small town on the Alabama-Tennessee border home, and to the kids, he is their neighborhood hero.
“They simply want to be close to him,” says Savannah.
Hodges’ local fame hasn’t yet spread beyond his hamlet in Northern Alabama. Lee and Savannah mostly remain invisible as they move from event to event. That might alter following Sunday.
Hodges’ final-round 67 at the 3M Open put a decisive cap to a stellar week that resulted in his maiden PGA TOUR victory at TPC Twin Cities by a seven-shot margin. Hodges improves from 74th to 33rd in the FedExCup and is granted an exemption for the Designated tournaments and major championships of the following year.
“He’s a rock star back home. I’m happy that Americans and golf enthusiasts will get to meet him,” stated Jay Seawell; his Alabama College Coach who flew to Minnesota on Sunday to surprise him.
Hodges’ hometown of Ardmore is where you should start if you want to learn anything about him. His high school pals are still some of his closest friends. His caddie, who is a few years older than him, is from there and played golf for Auburn University. The mayor of the town is his step-grandfather. The high school football and basketball games are announced by his father.
He had fantasies about playing golf in college at the University of Alabama. While most people in his town preferred basketball or football, Hodges was compelled to play golf. Seawell and the Crimson Tide only lightly recruited him out of high school, but he was initially passed over for the final scholarship spot.
“I was stupid. Why are you not hiring Lee Hodges, my wife questioned. I initially lacked the necessary intelligence.” he said pondering the first time he had passed him by.
He didn’t have to endure the error for very long. Hodges transferred in without any ill will on his part after spending two years at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. In actuality, Hodges’ closest friend is now the golfer Seawell initially chose.
Lee and Savannah initially relocated to Birmingham after finishing college. The duration was brief. He quickly returned to Ardmore where he was born and raised.
“If anyone has any questions, I’m from Ardmore, but they announced me on the first tee from Athens,” he remarked.
One of his townsmen stood by the rope line by the 12th green and remarked, “I left at 3:30 to be here.”
Hodges was followed by the cheering crowd for the entire 18 holes. When Hodges stuffed an iron to 5 feet for his first birdie of the day on the second hole, they were present. There were no nerves, according to Hodges. That was the initial cue.
On the sixth par-5, where Hodges drove a 3-wood to 12 feet and made an eagle to grab a seven-shot lead, they cheered loudly.
Savannah only needed to see Hodges’ body language after his first misstep of the day, a bogey on the ninth hole.
“He’s fine, I see. Despite my lack of golf knowledge, I can tell from his body language how he is performing,” she said.
He steadied with pars at 10 and 11, as expected. The crowd went berserk as Hodges used the same 3-wood to make his second eagle of the day on the 12th par-5, hitting it to 3 feet.
Hodges referred to the approach shots that set up the eagle as “two of the greatest shots he ever hit.”
However, it’s possible that his shot on the 18th was his most enduring. Hodges made a point of being aggressive on Saturday night. He believed that his lack of initiative cost him the opportunity to win the 2022 American Express, where he was the 54-hole co-leader. Hodges hammered his approach on the 18th hole to two feet for a winning birdie, as if the two eagles weren’t aggressive enough already. Not only had he won, but by a margin of seven, the biggest on the TOUR since Rory McIlroy’s victory at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open.
Savannah observed as Hodges tapped in and hugged Andrew Medeley, his caddie.
“I’m numbed. He accomplished his dream” she remarked.
She quickly left to congratulate him after that. She was then followed by Seawell, Hodges’ agent Jeff Stacy, and his childhood best friend. Hodges didn’t have to wait long to realize the crowd of hometown fans who had traveled last minute to witness his dream come true.
Hodges appeared to be briefly back in Ardmore. He enjoyed himself with those who had celebrated him before he had won a TOUR event. All the way up in Minnesota, a small piece of Alabama.
“Being from there and representing those people makes me incredibly proud. Man, I’m sure there’s a party going on right now in northern Alabama,” he said.
