Vanderbilt graduate Brandt Snedeker has become a PGA favorite with his perennial smile and happy-go-lucky attitude, and the fact that his name is cool helps too.
He's also distinguished himself by playing some pretty good golf in the last two majors, finishing third in the Masters and tying for ninth at the U.S. Open.
The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale starts tomorrow, and as this Canadian Press article tells, a gaggle of players in their 20s have a golden opportunity to win a major without big, bad Tiger Woods looming on the scoreboard. Woods, after his dramatic U.S. Open victory, is sidelined with a torn ACL and stress fractures. According to ESPN, Woods has won two of the last three British Opens, and each of the last two PGA championships, so it's pretty obvious that his absence is a weight off everyone's mind. Phil Mickelson wouldn't even mention Tiger's name in an interview.
"No matter what everyone says, beating Tiger is a mental hurdle because nobody is doing it," Snedeker said.
If you need any more reasons to root for Snedeker, by all means read this great feature from Golf Digest, which reveals, among other things, there exists a mentor-pupil relationship between Snedeker and 8-time major winner Tom Watson.
Watson, who has won the British Open five times, became impressed with Snedeker when they played together at the Masters.
"He's a terrific young man," Watson said. "He gets what it takes to not only play professional golf, but he also knows how to handle himself the right way. I really admire that about him."
Watson called Snedeker after the Masters this year, where the young player had a memorable display of emotion after a grueling four days at Augusta that culminated in a final round of 77 and a third-place finish. Snedeker felt he had let down his fans with his poor final round after being in contention for the victory, but Watson had some words of wisdom.
"(Watson) said 'Brandt, there's nothing I can say that's going to make you feel any better. I shot 79 in the last round when I led my first major [the 1974 U.S. Open at Winged Foot]. How you deal with it and move on is what's going to define you as a player. I believe you're going to learn from it and be better for it.'"
One more good sign: Snedeker also said Watson loves Royal Birkdale and the old pro thought that Snedeker would like it too.
"I know he won his last British Open there (1983), and it's going to be my first," Snedeker said. "I can't wait."
For the first time, I can't wait for a golf tournament either.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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8 comments:
David Price, Casey Weathers, Shan Foster, Derrick Byars, Jay Cutler, Chris Williams, Earl Bennett and of course Snedeker. The list of recent Vanderbilt alums gaining national attention goes on and on...
Without Tiger, I usually wouldn't give much attention to the British, but thanks to Sneds, I'll be glued to the coverage all weekend.
In all my 46 years as being a VU fan, student, alum, and supporter, this is probably the most rewarding and enjoyable stretch for me because of the success across many sports, not just basketball.
More enjoyable is that VU grads are carrying themselves with ethics and integrity after school at a time in which such character leadership is desparately needed in the Pro Sports world.
The only thing I worry about is that one of the group mentioned by Jarred my have an propensity for drink that could be a risk factor.
I hope this is not the case.
Tony, just curious, but who are you referring to?
Not a good first round for Brandt...
Well, I want to be careful. I don't to give any chance for unfounded rumors to start. I sent you an email.
Greg, I guess you looked to early or did notice what everyone else was doing. Brandt is +2, 3 off the lead, tied for 15th on a miserable day. Pretty darn good first round.
you are right Tony, I should have given him more of a chance on the back nine. After seeing that total on the front I kind of counted him out. Happy to be proved wrong on this one....
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