Age: 24 | Resides: Daniel Island, S.C. | __Story:__Won the first event of his rookie season on tour—the 2013 Sony Open—by shooting a tournament-record 24 under par.
Share story
A DOPPELGANGER ON TOURLots of people will call me "Brandt," and give me a hard time about playing and looking like Snedeker. Growing up, you watch different pros play and try to copy what they do. I copied Tiger's routine as a kid, but I've watched Brandt's putting stroke for a long time. I take a lot from what he does, for sure. You'll see we have a similar type of routine. I feel like we have similar demeanors, too.
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
THE BEST POSSIBLE DEBUTYou dream about winning your first tour event by going out there and actually winning it instead of having someone give up the lead to you. It was nice to be the aggressor the entire week. Waialae Country Club is a tree-lined, Seth Raynor-designed course, just like one I'm a member at now [Country Club of Charleston]. I feel pretty comfortable on his layouts. Back in January, I felt the nerves, but I'm proud of the way I handled them.
DRIVERThis Nike VR_S driver (9.5 degrees, Graphite Design Tour AD GT-7X shaft) has been in play for more than a year now. If I have a pressure tee shot down the stretch, I know I can swing out of my shoes with this club.
FAIRWAY WOODThis Nike SQ Sumo 3-wood (13 degrees, Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana Blue Board shaft) has been in my bag since I was 18. With it, I trust I'll keep every shot in front of me.
IRONSI've played a split set since I was a junior in college (Nike VR Pro Cavity 3- through 6-iron, VR Pro Combo 7-iron through 9-iron; True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts).
HYBRIDI picked up this Nike VR Pro hybrid (18 degrees, Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki shaft) at Georgia's Boyd Golf Center. I can hit a variety of shots with it.
WEDGES My Nike VR Pro wedges have a six-degree gap between them. I like using a ton of bounce. This lets me hit down hard without them digging too much.
PUTTERThis has been my favorite club for a while. The Nike guys made me a duplicate of the putter I've always used. The result? My Nike Method 006 prototype.
MORE THAN USUALI've marked my ball (Nike 20XI-X) with a dot on both sides of the number since I was 12. I just wanted to be different from everyone else who simply used one dot by the number.
O' LEI, O' LEI, O' LEI ...My high school in my hometown of Macon, Ga., had a Russell Henley Day after I won the Sony. I got texts from friends, who were seniors I knew there, all wearing leis and Hawaiian shirts.
iStock photo
HUNGER STRIKESI'm a big fan of Zaxby's but I don't eat it out on the course. I do need to make sure I eat every two holes, otherwise I get lightheaded. I go with sandwiches and organic bananas or apples.
HEADLINERI'm big on having routines, keeping everything the same and simple. I wouldn't call it superstitious, but I'll always mark my ball with a quarter and point it heads up.
GUITAR MANI've been playing the guitar since I was in eighth grade. I love playing on the road while I'm hanging around. I'm OK on the strings. I enjoy playing acoustic music.