How do you know that she is the one? That she is the one you are going to spend the rest of your life with? Grace? Personality? Or something else? Well, for the one-time PGA Tour winner Tom Hoge, it was food. Nope, not her culinary skills, but rather her choice of food. And her candor about it.

So, Tom Hoge met Kelly O’Brien, a golfer, when both were teenagers. They did see each other at the junior golf events in Minnesota. But by the time Hoge took her out on the first date—in his parents’ minivan—he was already a winner on the PGA Tour Canada. They went to Keg, a steakhouse in Chandler, Arizona.

Hoge doesn’t remember what he ordered. But he remembers Kelly ordering a 22-ounce prime rib. He was a bit amused. Then surprised and a bit shocked. Kelly, although a petite golfer, ate it all. Recalling the incident, Kelly told the PGA Tour in 2022, “My husband’s like, ‘I’m sold. This girl’s ordering prime rib on the first date. I’m done.’”

Actually, they have kept that tradition alive. “To this day, I always order the biggest prime rib and my husband will get like the chicken breast. And the server will start … bringing the prime rib to my husband. And I’m like, no, that goes to me,” she told PGA Tour in the same 2022 interview. 

Well, it figures. Food is the way to a person’s heart, as the saying goes. The couple has been married for seven years now. You will see her in the gallery at most of the tournaments. Kelly, being a collegiate golfer, helps obviously. But they don’t really talk about golf unless necessary. 

Tom Hoge’s wife on their golf bond

You might expect that when both are golfers, they would talk about the game all the time. Actually, Kelly sees it the other way around. “It’s like, who wants to leave the office and talk about work?” Quite right. But golf is a common connection. The couple likes to take golf trips from time to time. Back in 2021, they teed off at Pebble Beach on a golf vacation. A year later, Hoge netted his first victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Interestingly, Kelly has caddied for his husband when Hoge was still a Korn Ferry Tour pro. She was on the bag in a few Monday qualifiers as well. From that experience, she knows her husband’s game. Hoge is aggressive. So, when the one-time PGA Tour does make any mistake, Kelly tries to point that out. Just like she pats her husband’s back (metaphorically) after a good round like the 9-under at the 2025 Sentry.