AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Sneds Siezes Title

Brandt Snedeker / Getty Images

The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am title was gleefully seized by Sneds, there were no Hall of Famer’s snatching victory from him here at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Brandt Snedeker won by two shots, shooting a last round -7 under par, 65 to make sure this time he claimed the trophy, and also moved up to number four in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Brandt stood on the 18th tee at Pebble Beach with a three-shot lead on Sunday, taking in the view before him,  the sun and the Pacific Ocean, realizing just how far he has come in the past few months. Sneds said is was a dream, and hard to put into words;

“Just hard to put into words, to have a stretch of golf like I had the last couple of months, something you dream about. Something you think that you can do, but you don’t really know until you actually put it together, and I have. I’m really enjoying this, and hopefully can parlay this into the best year of my career. The last two weeks, playing great but running into two Hall of Famer’s, really motivated me to go out and prove that I can handle the lead. I definitely didn’t want to do anything but win today, I was out there for one purpose and one purpose only, and I was extremely focused all day. I did a great job of staying patient and I did a great job of playing the golf course the way you’re supposed to play it. I would love to be known as the best American golfer, I’ve got a long way to go to do that, but this is a great start to the year. Couldn’t have scripted much of a better one, except for maybe winning the last two weeks if the guys (Tiger and Phil) hadn’t played.”

Ian Poulter tweeted from his home in Orlando Florida;

“Sneds is officially the best golfer on the planet right now, some serious golf he is playing.”

Chris Kirk was in second place, his great round of -6 under par 66, just not good enough on the day to bring him success. Chris said he felt he had played good golf, but somebody always seems to blitz the course;

” We’ve had a lot of tournaments like that on TOUR this year where somebody has really just kind of blitzed the field. I felt like I played well enough to win a golf tournament and came up a little bit short.”

Rookie James Hahn finished in tie for third place, along with broomstick user Kevin Stadler and Jimmy Walker, all at -14 under par for the tournament.

Sneds and Toby Wilt shared the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am title with Michael Letzig and John Erickson. Jordan Spieth  and Tony Romo; Patrick Cantlay and Kelly Slater; Brad Fritsch and Huey Lewis were among six teams tied for third, two strokes back.

 

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Hahn & Sneds Tied at the Top

James Hahn & Brandt Snedeker / How / Getty Images

James Hahn and Brandt Snedeker are tied at the top of the leaderboard at -12 under par after the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Brandt had a third round of -4 under par on the Pebble Beach course, while James fired in a round of -6 under par at Spyglass Hill.

Brandt Snedeker, the hottest player in golf on the US PGA TOUR this year without a win to show for it, put matters into his own hands Saturday by running off four straight birdies along the prettiest part of Pebble Beach for a -4 under par 68. After last weeks comment about being beaten by Hall of Famers, first Tiger Woods, and last week it was Phil Mickelson. Brandt will be surprised to find his closest opponent this time around is a rookie.

At this stage in this tournament Brandt is the player with the most experience, and feels confident that this week the trophy will be his;

” You never know what tomorrow holds, but I feel like I’m in great position, and I’m going to be surely more prepared, no matter who is around me in the last group. I’m probably going to have the most experience of anybody in those last couple groups of winning a golf tournament. You want to win any time you have a chance because you don’t know how many times you’re going to get that in a year. I’ve had a couple of chances the last couple of weeks, haven’t been the best chances. And this week, I have a great chance going into tomorrow, and you need to capitalize on those chances.”

Rookie James Kahn is just happy to be where he is at the moment, looking at a two-year TOUR exemption and a trip to the Masters;

“I’m not even in next week’s tournament, so to me, a top-10 finish would be great. So if you want to compare the Northern Trust Open to Augusta, we can. I would love to play another week out on tour, but just to learn from Brandt Snedeker, he’s one of the hottest golfers on the planet right now. I feel like I’m playing well just because I feel comfortable, you know, comfortable and having fun, that’s when I’m playing my best golf. I feel like my attitude on the golf course is better than it has been in recent years, and not getting so frustrated out there, just kind of enjoying the moment. I keep saying that, but it’s a blast to be inside the ropes and a member of the PGA Tour.”

Chris Kirk is in third place, one shot behind the leaders at -11 under par, following his third round of  -6 under par, 64 at the Monterey Peninsular par 70 course. Defending Champion Phil Mickelson is out of the running, after his ball took a dip into the Pacific Ocean, costing him a triple bogey 11. Phil also had the ignominy of slipping down a slope while trying to retrieve another errant shot, he landed on his rear end. Phil said of his fall;

” I got lucky, I didn’t get hurt.”

AT&T Pebble Beach. Russell Knox and Hunter Mahan Lead.

AT&T have a mission to stage the world’s premier PGA TOUR pro-am that brings the community together with global leaders in sports, entertainment and industry to raise Charitable funds which create opportunities for success. Some of the professionals and stars who are competing this week;

Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker, Hunter Mahan, David Duval, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir and celebrities and sports stars: Wayne Gretzky, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Cain, Justin Verlander, Carson Daly, Josh Duhamel, Andy Garcia, Billy Murray, Chris O’Donnell, Ray Romano, Tony Romo, Andy Roddick.

Hunter Mahan / Getty Images

Hunter Mahan and Russell Knox lead the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with first round scores of -6 under par. Hunter on the Pebble Beach course with a round of 64, and Russell with a 66 at the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula.

Hunter really enjoyed his day, especially when the forecast mid-day rain did not appear;

” I had a good time with my partner, the pace was great, the weather was good.I think the most interesting thing was we had perfect weather when it was supposed to rain at noon. We were all expecting rain. The bag probably weighs 100 pounds right now.”

Russell said he is full of confidence, and playing well, but is limited in his appearances because he finished outside of the top 125 on his rookie year;

“I came in here with a lot of confidence because I feel like I’ve been playing very well. Just haven’t had the chance to play. It was nice to get off to a good start.”

Seung-Yul Noh, playing at Spy Glass Hill carded a  -5 under par round of 67, which could have been even better without the two bogey’s on the last two holes. He was still pleased with his overall score;

“Still a good score. I’m really happy with that.”

Also at 5 under were Scott Langley a 65 at Monterey Peninsula, he is the first graduate of The First Tee program to make it to the PGA TOUR.  Matt Every is also at -5 under par, he sadly had a bogey on his final hole at Pebble Beach for a 67.

This is a complicated tournament, with its three courses and mixed with Professional players and Celebrity amateurs, so anything can happen, especially when you have the caliber of Phil Mickleson and Lee Westwood in the field,

Mickelson crushes Tiger and wins Pebble Beach

Neither a six-shot deficit at the start of the final round, or having to play alongside Tiger Woods troubled Phil Mickelson as he fired a last round -8 under par 64 to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.  Mickelson stomped his playing partner and calmly and coolly raced by everyone else to win on a damp, soggy Sunday by the Pacific Ocean. Phil was delighted with his effort;

“It feels just amazing.  I felt my game was right there at the start of the year but I came out and just shot some horrendous scores. I finally played like I thought I was going to play like this year. This has been a really big week for me for a number of reasons, but it does give me a lot of confidence in my game because I’ve known that I’ve been practicing well; that I physically feel terrific, that I’m able to practice hard, work hard and yet when I get off the course, I wasn’t shooting the scores. You have to perform on the course and I haven’t been doing that, and so it gave me some doubt, and this week erases doubt.”

 

Tiger Woods, who started the day in third, looked lethargic throughout, and didn’t look anything like his old self during a three-hole bogey stretch mid-round, and fell all the way down into a tie for 15^th with a 75. Tiger said about his day and his missing five putts from inside 5  feet ;

“I didn’t hit it as bad as the score would indicate but I just putted horrible. Anything I tried to do wasn’t working, as a result, I made too many mistakes on the greens. Phil played really good today. He was hitting it flush, and his wedge game was right on the money. Every shot that he had a wedge in there, he hit it inside 10 feet. What was frustrating was that I had a chance and all I had to do was get off to a good, solid start and I didn’t do that. Phil was 5-under through six. It was the kind of start I was looking for. At the start of the day I thought I’d have to shoot 67 to win, and it wouldn’t have been enough.”

Charlie Wi became the third player in the last three tournaments, who was trying for his first Tour win, to lose a big 54-hole lead. Charlie began by  four-putting the first green from 35 feet but fought back to salvage a 72, and a total of -15, two shots off the lead.

Tiger Woods is against belly putters

Tiger Woods is against belly putters, he refers to himself as a traditionalist, and that he is opposed to belly putters or any club anchored against a player’s body. He stated at a press conference at Pebble Beach;

ERIC RISBERG / AP

“I’ve never been a fan. I believe putting is the art of controlling the body and club and swinging the pendulum motion. I believe that’s how the game should be played.”

As I have said earlier the Belly and long putters have become much more popular in the pro ranks, and Keegan Bradley became the first major winner to use one at last year’s PGA Championship. Now golf’s governing bodies, the USGA and R&A, said last week that they were taking a fresh look on implementing a  leaning your body weight on the putter, affords a player an unfair advantage in high wind conditions. Tiger has been speaking with R&A Chief Executive Peter Dawson on the subject for years, particularly on drafting the tricky language that could present challenges to enforcing such a rule. Woods said he has gone back and forth with Dawson on how to tackle the wording, and he offered a logical suggestion;

My idea was to have it so that the putter would be equal to or less than the shortest club in your bag, and I think with that, we’d be able to get away from any type of belly or long putter.”
Of  his own game Tiger said;

“I feel very at peace, I think it’s more fun now than it used to be because now my kids are getting at an age where they want to see daddy on TV.  They say, ’daddy, you’re going to a golf tournament, are you going to be on TV. And I said, ‘Well, I have to play well.’ ‘Well, daddy, can you please play well?’

Asked about his match up with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo,  in the pro-am format at Pebble Beach, Tiger said;

“Romo’s playing from the up tees this week, which will be fun. That will be good for us. You guys probably don’t know this, but they want to give him a plus-three handicap, which is complete B.S. I mean, he’s a scratch. I play scratch every tournament, I’m a scratch.
“He’s competitive and he’s been grinding hard. It’s been cool to see. He’s been calling me quite a bit, sending me video of his golf swing, What can I do, what can I do?’”

Romo aside, it will be interesting to see how the belly putter debate pans out.