An American in Ireland: Tom Hoge Adjusting to Challenges of Irish Open

Hoge, a nine-year PGA Tour veteran, is fighting allergies but should make the 36-hole cut this week.
An American in Ireland: Tom Hoge Adjusting to Challenges of Irish Open
An American in Ireland: Tom Hoge Adjusting to Challenges of Irish Open /

It’s so hot in Ireland, the ice cream machine is overheating.

Situated near the driving range and under the canopy of a large tree, the line for soft-serve vanilla extends almost as long as the line to get a glimpse of Rory McIlroy.

One player not fully prepared for the conditions is American Tom Hoge.

The nine-year Tour veteran, whose PGA Tour card for 2024 is secure after a 46th-place finish in the FedEx Cup, decided to pop overseas to Dublin for the Irish Open and for next week’s DP World Tour flagship BMW PGA Championship.

Hoge, who has never played competitively in either England or Ireland, is finding it interesting and challenging, except for allergies that have left him sniffling all over Dublin.

Tom Hoge swinging a golf club
Hoge is playing in his first Irish Open this week / Getty Images

In April, Hoge typically gets a steroid shot to combat his allergies, but with this week’s weather in the 80s, he now wishes he had gotten a shot before this trip.

“We went down to the Guinness factory one afternoon in Temple Bar and saw the tourist stuff there in Dublin for a little bit,” Hoge said. “We had a great time. When the weather's like this, it’s hard to beat this.”

Playing on an American-style golf course in the middle of Ireland may seem like a good spot for Hoge, but he’s 2 under through 36 holes and on the cut line. So far the trip has not exactly been what he hoped for.

“I wish I could have driven all the better the first few days,” he said. “But hopefully I can sneak in here and make the cut somehow and make birdies on the weekend.”

After his two-week odyssey across the pond, Hoge plans to play more on the PGA Tour this fall, mostly because he likes to play and he has always been a proponent of staying sharp through the fall season.

“I'm a guy that likes to play, so I'm gonna play regardless of whether it’s mandatory or not,” Hoge said. “I’ve always loved the fall because I’ve got off to good starts in the fall and kind of been ahead of the curve when we tee it up in Hawai’i to start off the year.”

This week Hoge got the full Irish treatment, as he was paired with Ireland’s favorite son, Padraig Harrington, and 21-year-old Ulsterman Tom McKibbin.

“I do think it’s good to get opportunities like this to come play,” Hoge said. “National open, Irish Open and great crowd. It’s been a lot of fun playing alongside Padraig and Tom for the first two days. So it’s a cool experience for me to get to come do.”


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Alex Miceli
ALEX MICELI

Alex Miceli, a journalist and radio/TV personality who has been involved in golf for 26 years, was the founder of Morning Read and eventually sold it to Buffalo Groupe. He continues to contribute writing, podcasts and videos to SI.com. In 1993, Miceli founded Golf.com, which he sold in 1999 to Quokka Sports. One year later, he founded Golf Press Association, an independent golf news service that provides golf content to news agencies, newspapers, magazines and websites. He served as the GPA’s publisher and chief executive officer. Since launching GPA, Miceli has written for numerous newspapers, magazines and websites. He started GolfWire in 2000, selling it nine years later to Turnstile Publishing Co.