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Golf World Monday: Giving's on Snedeker's mind

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Nobody will ever call Brandt Snedeker a master ball striker, but he should give lessons -- on how to hold a press conference.

Photo by Getty Images

At the World Challenge Wednesday, the amiable Snedeker was open, articulate and interesting, three qualities the modern tour pro often resists when communicating to the public. Snedeker addressed anchoring, the aftermath of the Ryder Cup and his plans for the $11.4 million check he won as the Fed Ex champion.

"I don't plan on spending any of it," said the 31-year-old Tennessean. "It's just kind of to go [to] charities and help some people."

For those who might consider such a statement grandstanding, Snedeker comes by his sentiments honestly. As a youngster, he spent a lot of weekends with his mother behind the counter at the family's pawn shop, Gray House Jewelry & Loan, in a gritty section of Nashville.

"I got to see the way it is for a lot of people," he told Golf Digest in 2008. "People who needed to pawn their wedding ring to pay their heating bill or buy their medications. I mean, life's a battle."

Another lesson more tour players could learn.

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Rosaforte Report: Being The Last Man In Pays Off

Tim Rosaforte — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Scott Piercy barely qualified for East Lake, but the financial windfall was worth the wait for the journeyman who, five years ago, was down on his luck.

Snedeker's driver: $11.44 million bargain

Mike Stachura — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:47:00 GMT

By Mike StachuraBrandt Snedeker's win Sunday at the Tour Championship by Coca-Cola equalled the biggest single-day payday in the history of professional golf. His combined take for winning the final tournament of the FedEx Cup Playoffs...

The wink and fist bump that paid off for Snedeker

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 22:57:00 GMT

By John Strege

The Rory & Tiger Show proved a dud on Sunday, but this was no one-ring circus and Brandt Snedeker was no sideshow.

Snedeker is a Flying Wallenda, one wound as tight as the rope on which he seems to walk precariously when in contention, and heretofore known as much for his tumbles as he is for navigating his way to victory.

This time, against a field of the best players in the world, he prevailed in style, winning the Tour Championship by three strokes and a bonus of greater import than the $10 million he received for simultaneously winning the FedEx Cup. He won one for a friend.

Photo by Getty Images

Snedeker, 31, is an emotional player, who weeped after stumbling on the back nine at Augusta National with a chance to win the Masters in 2008. The lesson that carried him to victory on Sunday was that golf was not a matter of life or death.

Related: Tiger's on-course bromances

On Sunday morning, Snedeker went to Shepard Center, a renowned rehabilitation center in Atlanta, to visit Tucker Anderson, the 19-year-old son of his long-time instructor Todd Anderson. On Sept. 7, Tucker was in an automobile accident that nearly cost him his life.

"Tucker . . . I was thinking really hard about him," Snedeker said after his final-round 68 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. "It made me calm that this is not the most important thing in my world. I asked him if he thought I'd beat Rory McIlroy today. He gave me a little wink."

He also gave him a fist bump, according to his father, "for good luck today," Todd wrote on Twitter. "Hope it brings Tour Championship and FedEx Cup victories!"

Neither McIlroy (tying for 10th) nor Woods (tie for eighth) were a factor in the final round, not the outcome for which the carnival barkers touting the FedEx Cup were expecting. McIlroy and Woods entered the Tour Championship one-two in the FedEx Cup standings and finished two-three. Not that it mattered. McIlroy will still be the PGA Tour player of the year, which remains the more impressive and accurate yardstick by which a player's year is measured.

The players' goal is winning the tournament, notwithstanding the $10 million lottery ticket the winner of the FedEx Cup receives.

"Now that I've been out here for a while, I realize you don't play for money," Snedeker said Saturday. "You play to win championships and the money comes with that."

In his case, he received $1.44 million for his Tour Championship victory, giving a total haul of $11.44 million for a hard day's work.

It was easy only at the last hole, after he had holed a 27-foot birdie chip at the 17th green to increase his lead to four. Earlier in his round, at No. 6, he hit his tee shot into the water, leading to a double bogey that invited all comers to join him in contention.

There also is his history, which includes a four-putt from 12 feet on the last hole of the BMW Championship in 2009, a triple bogey when he needed only a bogey to qualify for the Tour Championship.

"I'm a jumpy guy to say the least," he said earlier. "So my biggest thing is trying to stay patient under the gun and realizing that not every shot is a make or break shot on Sunday."

Snedeker is eminently likable and a rising star, a combination worthy of his standing in for the absence of a Rory and Tiger showdown. This was Snedeker's fourth victory and one that reinforced the faith U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III had in him when he made him one of his four captain's picks.

And Snedeker was not at all jumpy on Sunday, a day that began with a wink and a fist bump from an ailing friend, who was proven right. Snedeker did beat Rory McIlroy on Sunday, a feat that typically pays off big these days

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Video: Luke Donald's hole-out eagle on 14 at the Tour Championship

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 20:36:00 GMT

Furyk looks Ryder Cup ready with Friday 64 at East Lake

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 22:49:00 GMT

By Jim Moriarty

ATLANTA, Ga. -- For those who were concerned that, after a couple of balky finishes, most famously at the U.S. Open at Olympic Club, Jim Furyk might not have been the best of all possible captain's picks for Davis Love III's U.S. Ryder Cup side, fret not. Furyk, the 42-year-old veteran of seven previous cups (and seven more of the Presidents variety), has sent an all clear from Atlanta and the Tour Championship and it read as follows: 3-3-3-3-3-3-3. That was just on his first seven holes. He added a couple more for good measure at the ninth and the 10th, finished the round with a six-under-par 64 and a one-shot lead over Justin Rose at the halfway point at East Lake, where Furyk won the FedEx Cup two years ago.

"To be able to write 3 on your card nine times in the first 11 holes was a lot of fun," said Furyk. "I've never seen a card that pretty, just all those 3s."

Supremely confident in his own way of doing things, Furyk nevertheless heard the second-guessing of the chattering class. "Really, the opinions that matter to me are those of my captain and those of my teammates. There are eight guys that had a voice in saying who they got to pick. There were six, seven, eight really good choices. I'm humbled and honored that those eight individuals and the assistants and Davis chose me," he said. "As far as having to prove myself . . . look at the way I play golf, the way I swing the golf club and grip the putter, look at the way I go about my business. If I really cared what the critics thought the last 19 years, I really wouldn't be here, if that makes sense."

One thing Furyk will bring to Medinah next week is a lot of experience, a lot of toughness and a lot of versatility. He was, after all, the first player to successfully pair with Tiger Woods when Woods was at the height of his powers and capable of intimidating his opponents and his teammates equally. Bubba Watson, who played in his first Ryder Cup two years ago in Wales, asked Furyk how many teams he'd been on during their round Friday.

"I said eight. And I know to the young guys that seems interesting. I don't want to overplay it," he says. "My job is to go out there and play as well as I can and help my team in any way I can. I think I've always been good with tough pairings. I'm a guy that the captains can move around a little bit. I can fit in with a lot of personalities. So, I'm flattered by that and, again, I think that's probably one of the reasons I was chosen, for more than just golf. But I don't' want to overplay it. We've got a bunch of really good players. Right now I'm focused on trying to play well at this event and anything I do here is going to help me get ready for the Ryder Cup. It'll be easy to get up over there. "

Don't count Woods among those surprised by Love's choice either. "If you think about it, he's basically two swings away from being probably in the top five in points," said Woods after his second round 73 dropped him from a share of the Tour Championship lead to T-12. "Him being picked, it's not that controversial to us as players. Since '97 he's been on every team with Phil and myself. We've been on every team together. He's been so solid and so rock steady. He's a great team player and he's playing well. He went 5-0 last year (at the Presidents Cup). This is what he can do. As I said, he's two swings away from being in the top five in points."

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(Photo by Getty Images)

Rory and Tiger are enjoying the familiar ride

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 00:27:00 GMT

By Jim Moriarty

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Despite the comedic offerings of the baton-passing Greg Norman -- who, unencumbered by excessive knowledge, was able to divine like Carnac the Magnificent that 36-year-old Tiger Woods was, in reality, intimidated by 23-year-old Rory McIlroy -- what seems to be increasingly clear is that Woods is neither envious or afraid of the youth and skill of the young Irishman; nor is McIlroy in any way awed by the elder statesman who has won 12 more major championships than he has. If anything, they seem to share a mutual respect and actually enjoy playing together, which is something they've done a lot of lately.

Woods and McIlroy have kicked off three of the four FedEx Cup Playoff events paired together. Tiger was one shot better in the opening round at the Barclays while McIlroy nipped Woods by a shot the first day at BMW. Tiger put a little distance between them with a four-under-par 66 to McIlroy's 69 in the opening round of the Tour Championship at East Lake CC. It was also good enough for a share of the lead with Justin Rose. Of course, McIlroy won two of the three previous playoff events, so opening round results, like a financial prospectus, aren't necessarily indicative of future returns.

Related: Like Tiger, like Rory

By now, neither Woods nor McIlroy can dodge the questions about one another, with or without the help of Norman. "I enjoy playing with Rory," said Woods. "He's a great kid. Over the years there are certain pairings for me that I've enjoyed and Rory is one of them. You probably don't believe this, but I get along really well with a lot of guys out here. Rory is no different. I give it, they dish it, and we have a great time. This is a fraternity out here."

McIlroy agreed. "It was great. I always say groupings like that, it's a great atmosphere, it's a great buzz. I wish I could have shot a couple shots better," he said.

Woods birdied two of the first three holes, both of East Lake's par fives and hit it close on the 12th and 16th holes against a bogey on the fourth when he didn't get up and down from a greenside bunker and another on the 14th when he lost his driver right into the deep Bermuda rough. "It's long enough but it's also thin enough that every ball is going down to the bottom," said Woods. "It's tough to get out of there. I mean, I saw Rory at 13, he missed the first cut by less than a yard and had no shot."

Related: Tiger Woods vs. Rory McIlory

Rose, who along with McIlroy will be facing Woods and the rest of Davis Love III's American squad in the Ryder Cup next week at Medinah CC, rolled in a downhill 52-footer for birdie at the last to cap off his four-under-par 68.

While Woods and McIlroy are among the Fab Five who win the FedEx Cup automatically if they win the Tour Championship -- and thus control their own fate, as it were -- Rose, not so much. The scenario for the Englishman taking the $10 million goes something like this: McIlroy finishes 17th or worse; Woods in a three-way tie for fifth or worse; Nick Watney in a three-way tie for third or worse; Phil Mickelson T3 or worse; Brandt Snedeker a three-way tie for second or worse; Louis Oosthuizen T2 or worse; Sean Foley's digital video camera implodes; the entire state of Georgia runs out of barbecue sauce; and the Atlanta Falcons are flexed into prime time. Or something like that.

"From a FedEx Cup point of view, it's a position of having nothing to lose, really," said Rose. "I've only got this tournament on my mind. A lot of other guys have two trophies on their minds." And, lest we forget, Samuel Ryder makes three.

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PGA Tour: Fantasy Fix: Tour Championship

Alex Myers — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:00:00 GMT

We discuss FedEx Cup fever, Rory's remarkable run, a special rivalry that's still going strong, and of course, this week's PGA Tour stop.

Ron Sirak: Package Deal

Ron Sirak — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 04:00:00 GMT

These FedEx Cup Playoffs have given us great players and dramatic finishes. What's not to like?

PGA Tour: Cashing In

Alex Myers — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:00:00 GMT

For many PGA Tour pros, their first tournament paycheck was worth a lot more than its actual value.