Pebble Beach, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Brandt Snedeker fired his third
straight 67 in Sunday’s final round and he rolled to a 3-shot win at the AT&T
Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Snedeker carded four rounds in the 60s this week to finish at 22-under-par
265, surpassing his own tournament record of 267 by two shots, a mark he set
with a victory here in 2013. Snedeker, who now has seven career wins on the
PGA Tour, last won in the same year at the 2013 RBC Canadian Open.
“It feels awesome. I’m emotional right now. It’s been a long time since I’ve
felt this feeling again,” Snedeker said. “It’s really special.”
Nick Watney fired a 3-under 69 at Pebble Beach Golf Links to finish alone in
second place at 19-under 268. Charlie Beljan (66) ended one shot further back
at 18-under 269.
Last week’s Farmers Insurance Open winner Jason Day (67) finished tied for
fourth with Dustin Johnson (66) and Pat Perez (68) at 17-under 270.
Third-round leader Jim Furyk, who has not won since 2010, struggled on his way
to a 2-over 74 and he ended tied for seventh at minus-16. Furyk has not won
the last nine times he has held the 54-hole lead.
Snedeker entered the day one shot back of the leader Furyk and was tied with
Matt Jones, who shared the second-round lead with Snedeker. Watney, one shot
further back, joined Snedeker and Jones at minus-17 with a birdie at the first
and he tied the lead with another gain on two.
Watney continued to surge at the start of his round, making it three straight
gains with a birdie on three to take the outright lead. Snedeker then rolled
in his first gain from seven feet on No. 3, tying him with Furyk and putting
him one back of Watney.
The 33-year-old Watney remained on fire with his fourth consecutive birdie on
four, extending his advantage to two and getting him to 20-under first.
Then came a big swing as Watney’s streak came to an abrupt halt when he
tripped to a bogey on five. Snedeker drained his second birdie on five to tie
Watney at 19-under.
Furyk’s first bogey on No. 5 dropped him further back and he never recovered.
Bogeys on nine, 10 and 14 to go along with birdies on 11 and 18 were not
nearly enough as he finished well off the pace.
Watney’s second straight bogey on seven gave Snedeker the outright lead and
Snedeker’s lead was extended to two when he converted a birdie putt from five
feet on No. 7. Watney, playing in the penultimate group with Snedeker, made
birdie on seven as well to keep himself within one.
As Snedeker made the turn with two pars on eight and nine, Watney tripped to
his third bogey on the front nine at No. 9, dropping him two back again.
Watney was not going away easily, however, as a 40-foot birdie putt fell on
the par-4 11th, putting him at minus-19 and one back of Snedeker.
It was short-lived, however, as Snedeker rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt of
his own on 11. From there Snedeker began to pull away with some help from
Watney.
Watney tripped to back-to-back bogeys on 13 and 14, which pushed Snedeker’s
lead to four shots. Snedeker made his fifth and final birdie from 10 feet on
15 to put him up five, which was his biggest lead.
Watney pulled within four with a birdie on 17 and he rolled in a curling, 25-
foot putt for birdie on 18 to get to three back, but it was too late. Snedeker
finished with three straight pars from 16 to claim his seventh title on tour.
“It was a great day,” said Snedeker. ” I did everything the way I was supposed
to. I didn’t play perfectly, but I fought really well. I made the key putts.
You need to make key putts around here. I’m just so thankful that this week is
over now. It was stressful.”
NOTES: Snedeker made just one bogey in four rounds this week, with the only
dropped shot coming on No. 3 at Pebble Beach in round three … Four of the
last five winners of this event played at Pebble Beach in rounds three and
four … Snedeker, who entered the week No. 63 in the world, has now qualified
for the Masters, which he considers his favorite tournament … Defending
champion Jimmy Walker finished tied for 21st at 13-under 274 following a 3-
under 69 Sunday … Snedeker earned $1,224,000 with the victory … The PGA
Tour remains in California next week for the Northern Trust Open, where Bubba
Watson won last season.
