Brandt Snedeker

Brandt Snedeker (born December 8, 1980) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Early years through College

Snedeker was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He was introduced to golf by his maternal grandmother, who managed a golf course in Missouri.^[1] He attended Montgomery Bell Academy and then Vanderbilt University, where he was a member of the Chi Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order. He won the U.S. Amateur Public Links in 2003 before turning professional.

Professional career

2004-2006: On the Nationwide Tour

Snedeker played on the Nationwide Tour from 2004 until 2006, when he finished 9th on the tour money list after victories at the Showdown at Somerby and the Permian Basin Charity Golf Classic, thus earning a PGA Tour spot for 2007. While on the Nationwide Tour, Snedeker recorded two wins, two runner ups, 12 tops 10s and earned $549,564.

2007: PGA Tour Rookie of the Year

Snedeker garnered immediate attention in January 2007 after shooting a course record equaling 61 in the first round of the Buick Invitational. He led the tournament by three strokes after 36 holes^[2] but due to a 74 in the third round he finished in third place. He made eight consecutive cuts starting at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in January and ending at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. In that span he recorded three top-25 finishes. Snedeker did not play as well as he hoped in the month of April. In four tournaments in April, he made two cuts including a finish of T16 at the Verizon Heritage. From May to early June Snedeker made the cut in two of the four tournaments he entered. This included an impressive T12 finish at the prestigious Players Championship. Snedeker would then go on a hot streak starting at the Stanford St. Jude Championship on June 10. He finished in a tie for fifth at that tournament and by doing so surpassed $1 million in earnings on tour in 2007. He finished in a tie for 23rd at the U.S. Open the following week. He recorded two top-10 finishes in early July including a tie for 10th at the Buick Open. This finish put Snedeker into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time.^[3] Later in July he finished in a tie for 7th at the Canadian Open. Two weeks after the Canadian, Snedeker played in the PGA Championship for the first time. Snedeker finished in an impressive tie for 18th place. Snedeker picked up his first PGA Tour victory the next week at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina. This win propelled him to a world ranking of 55th.^[4] The Wyndham Championship was the last regular season event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Snedeker entered the playoffs in 9th place in the point standings. He played in all four playoff events. He recorded finishes of missed cut, T47, T14 and T29. Snedeker finished in 20th place in the final points standings and that earned him a bonus check of $225,000. Due to his great performance on tour he was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 2007.^[5]

Snedeker entered 29 PGA Tour events in 2007. He made 23 cuts including one win, a third place finish, six top-10 finishes and 13 top-25 finishes.^[6] He earned $2,836,643 which put him in 17th on the final money list and he finished 2007 ranked 47th in the world rankings.

Following his third place finish at the 2008 Masters Tournament, Snedeker reached a new high of 32nd in the world rankings.

His brother, Haymes Snedeker, won Big Break X Michigan, and earned a shot at Q school and the PGA Tour.^[7]

2008

Snedeker began the year with a tied for 10th finish at the Mercedes-Benz Championship. He finished tied for 9th at the FBR Open in February and tied for 8th at the PODS Championship in March. Snedeker recorded his first top-10 in a major at the 2008 Masters Tournament where he finished tied for third. He went into the final round in second place, two strokes behind eventual winner Trevor Immelman but Snedeker shot a final round 77. Snedeker finished in the top-10 for the second time in a major at the 2008 U.S. Open where he finished tied for 9th. For the rest of year Snedeker struggled to maintain his early season consistency and did not record another top-10 finish for the season. Snedeker made 19 of 26 cuts on the year and recorded five top-10s, seven top-25s and earned $1,531,442 while finishing 34th in the FedEx Cup standings.

2009

Snedeker struggled in 2009, making only 14 of 26 cuts and failing to make the cut in 9 of his first 12 tournaments he played. His play improved in the summer as he had had two consecutive top-5 finishes, a tie for 5th place at the AT&T National, and a tie for 2nd place at the John Deere Classic. These were soon followed by two more top-5 finishes at the RBC Canadian Open and the Wyndham Championship. Despite this mid season form he missed the cut in all four of the years majors. One factor contributing to Snedeker's uneven play in 2009 was his health. He missed seven consecutive tournaments in the middle of the season due to a rib injury. Snedeker finished the season 55th on the money list.

2010

Snedeker started the 2010 season well with a top-10 finish at the Bob Hope Classic which he then followed up with a runner-up finish at the Farmers Insurance Open. Snedeker played consistently throughout the early season making eight consecutive cuts through to April. However he then missed five of his next seven cuts and did not record a single top-25 finish until the US Open where Snedeker achieved his best ever finish at a US Open finishing in a tie for 8th place at Pebble Beach Golf Links. For the rest of season he played steadily and recorded two more top-10s at the Wyndham Championship and the end of season playoff event the Deutsche Bank Championship. Snedeker ended the year 48th on the money list.

2011

Snedeker had an inconsistent start to the 2011 season missing his first cut at the Bob Hope Classic then following that with two consecutive top-10 finishes at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. This was then followed by a further two missed cuts and a withdrawal from the Honda Classic to attend the birth of his first child. He returned to the tour with a 4th place finish at the Transitions Championship and then at years first Major Championship, The Masters Tournament finished in a tie for 15th. The following week Snedeker had a chance to win his second PGA Tour title at the Valero Texas Open but made a number of mistakes on the back nine on Sunday which cost him victory, eventually finishing alone in 4th. Snedeker did however earn his second PGA Tour title the week after at The Heritage beating Luke Donald in a sudden-death playoff at the third extra hole. Snedeker shot a 64 seven-under-par round to recover from six shots back on the Sunday to tie Donald after the Englishamn had to up and down on the last to make the playoff. The first two extra holes were parred by both players, but when Donald's par chip missed on the third extra hole, Snedeker sealed the win.^[8] This win took Snedeker to 38th in the world rankings. In November 2011, Snedeker underwent elective surgery on his right hip in order to fix a degenerative issue. This sidelined him for six to eight weeks at the end of year, however Snedeker confirmed he wished to sort the problem out now in order to be fully fit for the 2012 season.^[9] Snedeker finished the season 14th on the money list.

Personal life

Snedeker resides in Nashville with his wife Mandy plus their daughter Lily who was born on March 3, 2011. He currently works with Todd Anderson of the Sea Island Golf Club.

Amateur wins (1)

• 2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links

Professional wins (4)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (1-0)

Nationwide Tour wins (2)

¹Defeated Quinney with birdie on third extra hole.
²Defeated Price with birdie on first extra hole.

Results in major championships

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

U.S. national team appearances

• World Cup: 2008

References

External links

• Brandt Snedeker at the PGA Tour official site
• Brandt Snedeker at the Official World Golf Ranking official site