After a difficult season on the PGA Tour, Rico Hoey needed a change if he was to stay on the top circuit in 2026.
like The PGA Tour’s Sean Martin notedwhen it comes to kicking the ball, Hoey lived in the same quarters as the sport’s elite. He ranked first in total driving, first in putting greens, second in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, third in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green — behind Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa — and 16th in approach. The problem? He was ranked last in putting, losing more than one stroke per round this season. Placement issues saw Hoey finish 106th in the FedEx Cup standings, meaning he needed a successful fall run to retain his Tour status.
After dropping 10.5 strokes over four rounds at the Wyndham Championship, Hoey, who says he has always been a “radiant” putter, decided to make a big change. Hoey began working with his pitching coach, Marcus Potter, and his staff, Bryan Martin, to find a solution. Finally, they decided to have Hoey try a sweeper course to see if it could cure his problems on the greens and help him stay on the PGA Tour.
“We asked like Titleist and all these other companies to send brooms and I show up at home and there it is, so I guess it wasn’t too bad, but I tried it during that month off,” Hoey said Sunday in the. Utah Bank Championship. “I ended up breaking two course records with it within the first two weeks. I’m like, OK, I guess that’s it.”
Rico Hoey birdies No. 12 at the Bank of Utah Championship
Hoey arrived at the inaugural FedEx Fall Procore Championship with the long putter and got positive shots on the green in the first two rounds before falling on the weekend. He finished the week 47th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-0.222). While still negative, it was a big boost from where Hoey was during the regular season. He finished T9 at Napa and then missed the cut at Sanderson Farms after missing the green by more than three shots in the second round.
The change to the broom hasn’t made Hoey an elite shooter, but it has taken a clear weakness and made it less of an obstacle to success.
In Japan, Hoey won by three strokes over the field during the final round of the Baycurrent Classic to finish in a tie for fourth. He followed that up by winning strokes in two of his final three rounds at the Bank of Utah Championship, including a 2.359 in the third round, en route to a second-place finish. after guest sponsor Michael Brennan.
“I didn’t expect this quick comeback, especially finishing second now,” Hoey said Sunday in Utah. “But, no, it’s been a tough season for me shooting. I’ve always been a great hitter and I feel like I shoot the ball great, but just shooting it has always been very difficult. This year, I just haven’t made nearly enough shots.
“It’s been good. It’s been good for me. I’m just going to keep working hard on it. There’s some things I need to keep working on, but, yeah, it’s been great.”
The T9-Cut-T4-2 run has boosted Hoey to 61st in the fall FedEx Cup standings, meaning he has almost certainly secured his card for 2026 and is now on the cusp of entering next season’s first two Signature Events – the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AmON and Genaesis Next.
In four tournaments, everything has changed for Rico Hoey. Two months ago, he was the worst on Tour in placing and in danger of losing his card. A shift later and the 30-year-old has clarity about his professional future and a desire to make this the start of something, not just a short, career-long listen.
“It’s something I want to keep improving on, giving myself chances to win like this week, and so if it happens and I play well and get into the Signature Events, great,” Hoey said. “If not, I’ll just keep my head down and keep working hard.”
