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Posted March 18, 2014, 1:12 am
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Snedeker's chances, not attitude, dampened by rain in final round

  • Article Photos
    Snedeker's chances, not attitude, dampened by rain in final round
    Photos description
    Brandt Snedeker knows he has the game to win at Augusta National. "It gives me some confidence to know if you keep banging on that door it's going to happen," he said.
  • Article Photos
    Snedeker's chances, not attitude, dampened by rain in final round
    Photos description
    Brandt Snedeker waves to the gallery on No. 16 at the TOUR Championshipin September.

 

Who knows what might have happened if the rains hadn’t come in the final round of the 2013 Masters Tournament? Maybe Brandt Snedeker would have a green jacket today.

Had the normally slick Augusta National greens stayed dry and fast that day, Snedeker might well have realized his lifelong dream of winning at Augusta National Golf Club.

“You think about that, but you’ve got to be able to adjust,” Snedeker said about the rain.

Instead, Snedeker, who shot 70-70-69 in the first three rounds and was tied for the lead after 54 holes, couldn’t get the pace down on the damp greens, struggled to 75 and finished tied for sixth place.

“The greens really messed me up. I was so used to how fast they were (in the third round) and I left every putt short out there. I could not get a putt to the hole. I did not do a good job of making adjustments. I wish it had played firm and fast like it did on Saturday, and it just didn’t happen.”

Snedeker started the final round strong, striking for birdie on the first hole, to take the tournament lead.

“I was confident; I was playing great. I liked my chances,” he said.

Snedeker was still even par for the round when the greens started to slow down because of the rain, which he said started early in the round. The water started slowing down the greens on the fifth hole, which he bogeyed.

Snedeker, whose strength is putting, “never had the speed,” he said. “I did not putt the way you’re supposed to putt around Augusta.”

Snedeker bogeyed Nos. 10 and 11, then failed to birdie No. 13 after hitting into the tributary of Rae’s Creek fronting the green. He then made bogey at No. 14 after an errant tee shot, and trailed Jason Day by four shots.

“I think that was the killer for me, when I bogeyed No. 14, which was a pretty tough one to take. I birdied No. 15 and kind of limped in from there,” said Snedeker, who parred Nos. 16 and 17 before closing with a bogey on No. 18.

“If I had birdied 13 and parred 14, I would have had a chance,” he said.

For the second time in his six starts in the Masters, Snedeker played in the final group in the closing round, a spot that had produced 19 of the previous 22 Masters champions.

In 2008, Snedeker played in the final group with eventual champion Trevor Immelman. He shot 77 and finished tied for third.“I played really well for 54 holes,” said Snedeker, referring to the 2013 Masters, where his 4-under-par 284 total tied his low score at Augusta National. “If I putt the way I normally do on Sunday, I think I have a really good chance of winning that golf tournament.”

Before the final round, Snedeker had proclaimed that he was “not here to get a good finish. I’m not here to finish top five. I’m here to win.”

After reflecting on last year’s Masters, Snedeker found a lot to like about his play.

“I accomplished a lot of my goals that week,” he said. “I got in the last group, which if you look at the tradition in the history of the Masters, it’s a pretty good place to be. Your odds of winning increase dramatically if you’re there. So I took a lot of really good stuff out of that.”

He knows he has the game to win at Augusta National.

“It gives me some confidence to know if you keep banging on that door it’s going to happen,” he said. “I know it is. I believe it is. I did not feel overwhelmed at any point last year. I did not feel like I didn’t have a chance. And I know my time is coming.”

That’s because he handled the pressure better in 2013 than he did in 2008.

“I felt like I didn’t leave any shots out there,” Snedeker said. “The last time, when I played poorly (in 2008), I felt like I left a few out there. I tried hard on every one of them. When I look back on it, I wouldn’t have done anything differently than I did. You take some solace when you walk away from it.”

Snedeker was healthy for the 2013 Masters, but his early-season momentum (a win, two runner-ups and a third in his first five events) had been slowed by a rib injury that forced him to sit out five weeks. He returned in mid-March and missed the cut in his two starts before the Masters.

In Snedeker’s seven-year PGA Tour career, the only season he was injury-free was his first.

“It’s very concerning,” said Snedeker, who has had surgery on both hips to correct a degenerative problem and missed the 2012 U.S. Open because of a rib injury. In late 2013, he missed two months because he fell off a Segway scooter and injured his left knee.

“I don’t consider myself that, but the evidence bears out that I am injury-prone,” he said. “I’ve had way too many injuries for a guy my age, so I’m trying everything I can think of to counteract that, and diet is one of those things I can do. So we’re trying it and see how it goes. And hopefully I can get through. If I get through a whole year without an injury, I’ll probably stick to it. It’s just something I’ve got to do. I’ve got to be proactive for the rest of my career.”

Brandt Snedeker

 

Masters Record

YearPlaceScoreRoundMoney
1234
20136-470706975$ 278,000
201219E72756873$ 96,960
201115-469717470$ 128,000
200973+67674  $ 10,000
20083-469687077$ 435,000
200441+1273757577$ 0

 

Player Gallery: Snedeker

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