Brandt Snedeker’s final-round 69 at Torrey could be an all-timer
Brandt Snedeker is sittin’ pretty. And dry. And warm.
Snedeker shot an incredible 3-under 69 in 40-plus mph wind gusts and driving rains on Sunday to close out his Farmers Insurance Open on the South Course at Torrey Pines, leaving him in the clubhouse at 6-under 272, one shot out of the lead at the suspension of play and with a good chance at winning.
“I couldn’t do it again,” he said. “I don’t know how I did it. It was just one of those freak days.”
Snedeker, the 2012 champion, began the final round six shots behind 54-hole co-leaders Scott Brown and K.J. Choi, with PGA Tour officials deciding to bump up tee times over an hour to accommodate expected poor weather. The weather showed, but the tour tried to soldier on to an on-time finish. Mother Nature didn’t co-operate, and even when conditions were just good enough to play, the field by and large suffered. The Sunday scoring average was working out to be a shade of 78, which would position this as the second-highest scoring average in a non-major PGA Tour final round since 1983.
The weather didn’t seem to bother the Vanderbilt product. After an opening bogey, Snedeker didn’t drop a shot the rest of the way, making four birdies in a five-hole stretch from Nos. 10-14.
Just over the green in two at the downwind par-5 finisher, Snedeker could have made a birdie that may well prove the winning stroke. Instead, his up-and-down birdie bid failed. Now Snedeker waits, but he wanted play to soldier on and see where it left him.
“I want them out there playing since I had to play through this all day,” Snedeker said with a smile, according to Golf Channel. “I want them to be out there going through the misery that I had to go through.”
Jimmy Walker leads the tournament at 7 under par. However, he is 1 over for the round and only through 10 holes, with similar windy — though dry — conditions expected for the Monday spillover.
Win or lose, at least Snedeker will have the morning to relish in one of the best rounds of his career.
“One of my best rounds on tour, by far,” he said. “Under these conditions, to shoot anything under par or around par is a good round. To shoot 69 when you need to, really special.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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