Sunday
Sep132009
Snedeker's triple-bogey costly beyond words
Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 2:19PM
Writing from Lemont, Ill.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Brandt Snedeker, perhaps the nicest guy in golf, a sport with a lot of nice guys, was headed to the Tour Championship and a chance at the $10 million bounty that comes to the winner of the FedEx Cup.
After an afternoon playing with Tiger Woods, and dropping a pair of strokes to par in the first 17 holes, all he needed to do was bogey the par-4 18th hole on Cog Hill's Dubsdread course. After an errant drive, he needed to two-putt from about 13 feet for that bogey 5.
His par putt rolled to within about 3 1/2 feet of the cup. His bogey putt was a reasonably straight putt.
He lipped it out. He was out of the Tour Championship.
Now he had a double-bogey putt, and failed to negotiate the 14 inches on that one. It was another lip-out. Finally, from eight inches, his fourth putt found the cup for a triple-bogey 7, one of the costliest final holes in Western Open history.
Snedeker, understandably, didn't comment after the round, but the beneficiary of his miscue, John Senden, did.
Playing in the threesome immediately ahead, Senden had double-bogeyed the par-4 17th and thought his chances at advancing to East Lake Golf Club had vanished. Then Snedeker four-putted, and Senden was giddy.
"Let's scrap that first interview and do a new one," he told reporters grilling him about the sorry 6 on the 17th.
Two groups ahead of Senden, Ian Poulter had a top-30 spot locked up until he sent his approach on the par-4 18th into the water. That knocked him back and put Snedeker into the magic 30th spot, until his miscue moved Senden ahead.
Senden, who had chunked an approach shot about 50 yards on the 16th hole, ended up getting the 30th spot by 46 hundredths of a point, with 1,532.41 points to Poulter's 1,531.95. Snedeker finished 33rd, at 1,435 points.
Elmhurst's Mark Wilson was 32nd, with 1,438 points, but Evanston resident Luke Donald, Chicago's resident European-born star, managed par on the 18th and squeezed into the 28th spot.
Woods moved back to the top of the FedEx Cup standings by winning, passing Steve Stricker, who dropped to No. 2. Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and Heath Slocum round out the top five. If any of those five win the Tour Championship, they also win the FedEx Cup. The other 25 need help to capture the bonus bauble.
Dubsdread's revenge
Tougher cup locations and a slightly longer set-up compared to the first two days made Sunday's scoring average the highest of the week. The 68 players averaged 72.559 strokes, bringing the week-long average to 71.436 strokes. Fittingly, the 18th hole was the toughest, playing .456 strokes over its par of 4. As is traditional, the par-5 15th was the pushover, at 4.397 strokes. If it was played as a par-4, it would have been the second-toughest.
The course never played within 160 yards of its advertised 7,616-yard length. Sunday, it was set up at 7,449 yards. It was 7,450 on Saturday, 7,401 on Friday and 7,400 on Thursday. On the par 3s, the PGA Tour never used the back tee on the second or sixth holes, and only once on both the 12th and 14th holes. Sunday, the Tour used the middle of five tees on the second hole, a good 40 yards in front of the back tee.
Woods and Hagen in perspective
Tiger Woods has five wins in the Western Open in 13 appearances, 11 as a professional. Walter Hagen won five times in 14 appearances.
Hagen, golf's first full-time touring pro, and the game's first millionaire – and he spent as much or more as he earned – collected $2,150 for his toil in those five wins, which took place from 1916 through 1932.
Woods made $5,094.34 per stroke this week, not that he needs the money. With the $1.35 million purse, Woods' season earnings jumped to $9,698,163. He'll go over $10 million for the year if he finishes in the top five at East Lake, not including FedEx Cup bonus money. He also went over $101.5 million in career earnings counting all tours worldwide, but not including appearance fees overseas or endorsements.
Around Dubsdread
Defending champion Camilo Villegas scored 5-under 66 on Sunday, finishing tied for eighth at 5-under 279. Co-runner-up Jim Furyk and Sean O'Hair also had 66s, the best rounds of the day. … Padraig Harrington has scored a double-bogey in each of his last 13 Tour events. Sunday, he made double on the par-4 13th. Harrington tied for sixth with Sergio Garcia at 6-under 278. … Thanks to Woods' big lead of seven strokes, a leader or co-leader at the turn on Sunday has now won the last five Westerns. The last leader after 63 holes to lose was Steve Lowery, to Stephen Ames in 2004.
– Tim Cronin
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Brandt Snedeker, perhaps the nicest guy in golf, a sport with a lot of nice guys, was headed to the Tour Championship and a chance at the $10 million bounty that comes to the winner of the FedEx Cup.
After an afternoon playing with Tiger Woods, and dropping a pair of strokes to par in the first 17 holes, all he needed to do was bogey the par-4 18th hole on Cog Hill's Dubsdread course. After an errant drive, he needed to two-putt from about 13 feet for that bogey 5.
His par putt rolled to within about 3 1/2 feet of the cup. His bogey putt was a reasonably straight putt.
He lipped it out. He was out of the Tour Championship.
Now he had a double-bogey putt, and failed to negotiate the 14 inches on that one. It was another lip-out. Finally, from eight inches, his fourth putt found the cup for a triple-bogey 7, one of the costliest final holes in Western Open history.
Snedeker, understandably, didn't comment after the round, but the beneficiary of his miscue, John Senden, did.
Playing in the threesome immediately ahead, Senden had double-bogeyed the par-4 17th and thought his chances at advancing to East Lake Golf Club had vanished. Then Snedeker four-putted, and Senden was giddy.
"Let's scrap that first interview and do a new one," he told reporters grilling him about the sorry 6 on the 17th.
Two groups ahead of Senden, Ian Poulter had a top-30 spot locked up until he sent his approach on the par-4 18th into the water. That knocked him back and put Snedeker into the magic 30th spot, until his miscue moved Senden ahead.
Senden, who had chunked an approach shot about 50 yards on the 16th hole, ended up getting the 30th spot by 46 hundredths of a point, with 1,532.41 points to Poulter's 1,531.95. Snedeker finished 33rd, at 1,435 points.
Elmhurst's Mark Wilson was 32nd, with 1,438 points, but Evanston resident Luke Donald, Chicago's resident European-born star, managed par on the 18th and squeezed into the 28th spot.
Woods moved back to the top of the FedEx Cup standings by winning, passing Steve Stricker, who dropped to No. 2. Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and Heath Slocum round out the top five. If any of those five win the Tour Championship, they also win the FedEx Cup. The other 25 need help to capture the bonus bauble.
Dubsdread's revenge
Tougher cup locations and a slightly longer set-up compared to the first two days made Sunday's scoring average the highest of the week. The 68 players averaged 72.559 strokes, bringing the week-long average to 71.436 strokes. Fittingly, the 18th hole was the toughest, playing .456 strokes over its par of 4. As is traditional, the par-5 15th was the pushover, at 4.397 strokes. If it was played as a par-4, it would have been the second-toughest.
The course never played within 160 yards of its advertised 7,616-yard length. Sunday, it was set up at 7,449 yards. It was 7,450 on Saturday, 7,401 on Friday and 7,400 on Thursday. On the par 3s, the PGA Tour never used the back tee on the second or sixth holes, and only once on both the 12th and 14th holes. Sunday, the Tour used the middle of five tees on the second hole, a good 40 yards in front of the back tee.
Woods and Hagen in perspective
Tiger Woods has five wins in the Western Open in 13 appearances, 11 as a professional. Walter Hagen won five times in 14 appearances.
Hagen, golf's first full-time touring pro, and the game's first millionaire – and he spent as much or more as he earned – collected $2,150 for his toil in those five wins, which took place from 1916 through 1932.
Woods made $5,094.34 per stroke this week, not that he needs the money. With the $1.35 million purse, Woods' season earnings jumped to $9,698,163. He'll go over $10 million for the year if he finishes in the top five at East Lake, not including FedEx Cup bonus money. He also went over $101.5 million in career earnings counting all tours worldwide, but not including appearance fees overseas or endorsements.
Around Dubsdread
Defending champion Camilo Villegas scored 5-under 66 on Sunday, finishing tied for eighth at 5-under 279. Co-runner-up Jim Furyk and Sean O'Hair also had 66s, the best rounds of the day. … Padraig Harrington has scored a double-bogey in each of his last 13 Tour events. Sunday, he made double on the par-4 13th. Harrington tied for sixth with Sergio Garcia at 6-under 278. … Thanks to Woods' big lead of seven strokes, a leader or co-leader at the turn on Sunday has now won the last five Westerns. The last leader after 63 holes to lose was Steve Lowery, to Stephen Ames in 2004.
– Tim Cronin
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