He is a graduate of Kent State University, where he played on the golf team with fellow Canadian PGA Tour pro golfers Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.

In August 2016, he won the Price Cutter Charity Championship en route to graduating to the PGA Tour for the 2016–17 season.

In November 2016, in his fifth PGA Tour start as a member, Hughes won the RSM Classic, becoming the first Canadian-born golfer to win on the PGA Tour since Nick Taylor at the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship, and the first to win a non-alternate event since Mike Weir at the 2007 Fry's Electronics Open.

In June he finished tied for third place in the Travelers Championship and entered the top 100 in the world rankings for the first time.

[7] In October 2022, Hughes won his second PGA Tour title at the Sanderson Farms Championship in a playoff over Sepp Straka.