Lee Hodges has started to find his footing after a difficult stretch over the past season and a half. After months of missed cuts and frustration, the former PGA Tour winner carded a bogey-free 7-under-64 in the opening round of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run. It has marked his best round of 2026 and moved him into early contention.
He admits the last few months have tested his mindset and appeal towards the game.
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“I really just wasn’t enjoying bad golf, you know. I don’t think anybody enjoys bad golf, but you kind of have to sometimes. You kind of have to get through the bad to see the good…”
“It’s a game of failure. We play a game of failure. So if you let it beat you down, it will beat you down.” Lee Hodges admitted while speaking to the media
The 30-year-old entered 2026 on conditional status after narrowly missing out on the full PGA Tour card. He had finished the 2025 FedExCup Fall standings in 101st place. He was just one spot outside the top 100 that secured the exemption for the new season. He had tried to push his rankings at the RSM Classic 2025, the final event of the fall. But he came up short, despite tying for fourth.
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Moreover, in the 2026 season, things became difficult for him as he cracked a rib at the Cognizant Classic in February. It forced him to miss several tournaments, and he relied on a major medical extension to protect his status.
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He utilized that extension at the Sony Open in Hawaii, finishing T-6. It was his best performance on the course for a while. However, he missed five cuts in his next 12 starts, managing just one top-20 finish during that stretch.
He is now at the John Deere Classic, and his Thursday has been a clear sign that he may be finally turning the stones.
Whether the weekend can give him a fresh start to the season remains to be seen.
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