Lee Hodges won the 3M Open on Sunday by seven strokes for his first PGA Tour victory.

Hodges started the final round at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota, with a five-shot lead and carded a 4-under 67 on Sunday to complete the tournament at 24-under par and become the first wire-to-wire winner of the 3M Open.

Hodges set tournament scoring records for 36, 54 and 72 holes.

The closest that anyone came to catching Hodges came on the 71st hole, when J.T. Poston got within three of the lead when Hodges bogeyed the par 3.

But while Hodges birdied the final hole of the tournament, Poston triple-bogeyed the par-5 18th when his second shot landed in the lake. Hodges played the par-5 holes in 5 under on Sunday with eagles at the sixth and 12th.

“This has been a dream week,” Hodges said. “I’ve got the best caddie in the world. I’ve got the best wife in the world. I’ve got Mom and Dad – sorry that y’all aren’t here. I wish you were. I’ve got the best everybody, I mean, I’ve got the best team in the whole world, and they work so hard, and I couldn’t do it without them.”

Hodges won the AHSAA Class 4A boys’ golf individual championship in 2014 while playing for Ardmore High School. Hodges was the Conference USA Freshman of the Year in 2015 during the first of his two seasons at UAB. He finished his college career with two seasons at Alabama.

After the round, Hodges was surprised by Alabama men’s golf coach Jay Seawell, who came to TPC Twin Cities on Sunday to watch his former player in the final round.

Hodges, who plays out of the Canebrake Club in Athens, earned his first victory in his 65th PGA Tour start.

“I’m just proud to be from Alabama,” Hodges said. “It’s unbelievable the support I get from home. Coach Seawell, I didn’t see him until right now. I just saw my buddy Robbie’s here. Man, I’m just happy everybody’s here, and everybody back home I hope is going insane.”

In addition to garnering a $1.404 million prize for Hodges, it also secured an invitation to next year’s Masters and vaulted him into the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Hodges entered the 3M Open 74th in the standings with two regular-season tournaments remaining on the schedule. The top 70 in PGA Tour points advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs. The victory moved Hodges to 33rd in the standings.

The FedEx Cup playoffs start with the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Aug. 10-13 in Memphis, Tennessee. From there, the top 50 move on to the BMW Championship on Aug. 17-20 in Olympia Fields, Illinois, before the top 30 play in the Tour Championship on Aug. 24-27 in Atlanta.

Hodges’ best previous finish on the PGA Tour had come at the American Express on Jan. 23, 2022, when he tied for third in La Quinta, California.

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Seawell had two of his former Crimson Tide players win tournaments on Sunday.

In the PGA Tour Canada’s Osprey Valley Open at TPC Toronto in Caledon, Ontario, Davis Shore posted his first PGA Tour-affiliated victory in his second outing on the circuit this season.

Shore carded a 4-under 67 to finish at 19 under for the tournament, good for a one-stroke victory.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.