Brandt Snedeker Converts His 59 For Win
Brandt Snedeker is the 9th player to post a 59 in PGA Tour history. He also became only the 5th to convert it for a victory. And, he had to survive 29-holes on Sunday and hold off a couple of hot players to do so.
GolfWorld’s Christopher Powers has the deets.
“I guess I’m turning into Bubba Watson, wanting to cry every two seconds,” said Snedeker, who posted a final-round 65 for a 21-under 259 total. “Being my first tour win, having Wyndham believe in me in 2007 when I was a 26-year-old kid and be my longest term corporate sponsor out here, to do it here, to shoot 59 on Thursday, to be in the lead all week and deal with that pressure every night and step up to the plate today and shoot 65 when I had to, it means the world to me. My family’s here, so a lot of stuff going on that’s making me emotional.”
Snedeker now is one victory away from double-digit PGA Tour wins. It is his first victory since the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open, and it moves him to 30th in the FedEx Cup standings, meaning he’ll now have a legitimate shot at winning the FedEx Cup for a second time, the first coming in 2012.
“I’ve still got a lot of great golf in me,” Snedeker said. “I’m excited about the FedEx Cup Playoffs, I’ve done this before. I’ve won that thing. I can’t wait to try and make a run in Atlanta and try to win the FedEx Cup Playoffs, because I’m playing great. It’s going to be a lot of fun the rest of the year.”
“Pretty hard not to think that,” he said. “I just shot 59 on Thursday and won the tournament, so I’m kind of one of those players that gets on hot streaks and runs them while I can. So hopefully I can keep doing that.”
Golf.com’s golf scribes debate if a 59 is as newsworthy as before.
Zak: Even though it was great, it’s definitely not as significant as the score used to be. He gained some 9.7 strokes on the field average, which is stellar, but less than the 10-plus that Justin Thomas gained on the field during his 63 at Erin Hills. 59 stands for something, but it’s all relative.
Shipnuck: The number still has meaning. Just less than it used to.
Ritter: Hey, we led Golf.com with it that day! I think a 59 is sort of like a perfect game in baseball — they aren’t all created equal, but they’re special nonetheless.
Wood: Still a magic number, but not as significant as it once was. Al Geiberger first shot it in 1977, and it didn’t happen again until Chip Beck in 1991. I believe it’s happened eight times since 1999 on the PGA Tour (including as noted the last three years) as well as many more on the Web.Com, Challenge, Senior PGA Tour and LPGA Tours. So still magical, but not the same impact as Big Al’s was in 1977.
