PGA Tour relics turn back the clock
Snedeker closes the deal in Myrtle Beach while Fowler's charge falls short at Quail
Rickie Fowler nearly wins again at Quail where he won 14 years ago (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
For a little while there on Sunday afternoon, it felt like 2012 all over again.
Brandt Snedeker, 45, had already come home with his first victory in eight years in the PGA Tour’s opposite event in Myrtle Beach. About the same time, Rickie Fowler, 37, was all decked out in Sunday orange and had a share of the lead at the signature Truist Championship. He looked poised to win for the first time in three years (and only second in the last 10) when he fired a dart from 202 yards to 5 feet on the 16th hole at Quail Hollow Club.
Fowler, however, could not turn back the clock to his 2012 win at Quail Hollow, pulling the close chance for birdie on 16 and missing a 10-footer for par on 18, ultimately finishing runner-up two shots behind ascending Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan.
“It would have been nice to have that one on 16,” Fowler said.
The 2012 Wachovia champ at Quail made the biggest charge on Sunday, going out in 5-under 30 on the front to get in the mix and then assuming the lead when his eighth birdie of the round on 15 had him 7-under on the day and at the top of the leaderboard.
But after the missed chance at 16, his approach came up short on 18 and settled in the thick collar between the green and the creek and his pitch-out came up a little too short to let him save par and set the clubhouse mark at 14-under.
“Obviously now, you know, bummed not to be in a position to at least maybe to be in a playoff or having a chance to win,” Fowler said. “But at the same time if you would have told me at seven back that I was going to be out front and have a chance to close, yeah, a lot of really good stuff this week …
“A lot of good stuff and definitely happy with where the game’s been, how it’s been progressing, and obviously where we are right now.
“Making birdie on 9 to turn at 5-under, that’s kind of when it was like, all right, we got nine holes in front of us, let’s go have some fun and there was a lot of good stuff. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but hit a lot of quality golf shots. …
“Felt fun to be in the mix.”
Reitan made Fowler’s final bogey moot when he got to 15-under after a birdie at 15 and then saved par with a clutch 12-footer at 16 and then steadily parred his way through the last two holes of Quail’s infamous Green Mile finish.
Meanwhile in Myrtle Beach, the clock did turn all the way back.
Brandt Snedeker breaks eight-year drought with opposite-event win (Raj Mehta/Getty Images)
Snedeker had fallen as far as 790th in the world a couple of years ago and seemed fully invested in the next chapter of his career serving as vice captain in Ryder Cups and preparing for his first captainship at this fall’s Presidents Cup at Medinah. He’s being playing without a PGA Tour card the last few years.
But after all of his struggles since his last win in the 2018 Wyndham Championship, Snedeker finally found a second wind this spring. He showed a spark after four missed cuts to start the year with a T18 at the Valspar Championship in March. Then in Myrtle Beach, he closed the deal on a one-shot win over Mark Hubbard despite a finishing bogey.
His 10th career PGA Tour win not only gets Snedeker a fresh two-year exemption but put him in this week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink — his first major start since the 2021 British Open.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” said Sneds. “I feel amazing. I feel so lucky to still be out here still doing what I love to do, to have a chance to win a golf tournament at my age and to be able to pull it out is something super special. I’m just so pumped. I don’t know what else to say.
“But I’ve had a lot going on this year obviously with Presidents Cup stuff and getting to be around the guys. It really pushed me a lot. It did. Seeing Gary Woodland win a few weeks ago in Houston and seeing the old guys play well and the young guys push them, it’s been fun to get back in the swing of things and play some good golf.
“I know people don’t think I’ve been playing that great, but I’ve been playing pretty good. Just kind of have not been able to put four rounds together, and this week I did.
“So excited for what the next little bit holds, and going to really enjoy tonight and celebrate this. Ten wins out here is a huge accomplishment for me, and super excited about it.
“To not have my card the last couple of years, to be struggling to do what I love, you know, to still have a passion to play this game the way I want to play it and to show people how I can still do it, especially not playing my best and struggling the way I did to come back and fight, claw my way back and play some great golf this year even though it hasn’t seemed like it to people outside.”
While the win changes a lot of plans Snedeker had for the remainder of the season, we shouldn’t expect him to fall into the same drama as Keegan Bradley did about potentially picking himself to play in the Presidents Cup. But it will alter his outlook for the next few months ahead of the matches against the International team in September.
“I was planning on going home tonight and having a week off and going to Medinah on Thursday, Friday of next week and do some stuff for the Presidents Cup. That obviously got changed,” he said.
“Changes a lot of things. I’m kind of in a bunch of tournaments I probably wasn’t in before now. All good things. Just kind of get home tonight and re-evaluate what we need to do, and kind of figure out a new plan. I’m excited to get to the PGA. I haven’t played in a major in a few years.
“Love the opportunity to play in those big golf courses and playing against tough competition. It will be fun to get up there and see the guys. I haven’t seen a lot of those guys in a minute. And use it as a scouting trip for Presidents Cup stuff, talk to the guys a little bit.”