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Golf: Brandt Snedeker Has A Piece Of 36 Hole Lead At Pebble Beach

By Les Bailey

Feb 9, 2012; Pebble Beach, CA, USA; (EDITORS NOTE: A tilt-shift lens was used in the production of this image) Tiger Woods plays his approach shot from the shadows of the 14th fairway during the first round of the AT
Feb 9, 2012; Pebble Beach, CA, USA; (EDITORS NOTE: A tilt-shift lens was used in the production of this image) Tiger Woods plays his approach shot from the shadows of the 14th fairway during the first round of the AT /
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The hottest player on the PGA Tour in 2013 is finding out what good players for the past 15 years found out the hard way, how to finish in second place behind future Hall Of Famers. Once again, the 2012 FedEx Cup Champion finds himself with a share of the lead going into the third round of a PGA event at The AT & T National Pro Am on the Monterey Peninsula of Northern California.

February 3, 2013; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Brandt Snedeker tees off on the third hole during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
February 3, 2013; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Brandt Snedeker tees off on the third hole during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports /

Brandt Snedeker played the toughest of the three courses on Friday, SpyGlass Hill, and come away with a -4 under 68 for an -8 under two day total, and a tie for the lead with Ted Potter Jr. He shot an up and down -4 under 68 at the Monterey Penisula Country Club on Thursday, and will finish his tournament at the Crown Jewel of the event at Pebble Beach on Saturday and Sunday.

Snedeker, who has been on a roll all season, is leading the FedEx Cup points after a respectful finish at the Hyundai Tournament Of Champions in Hawaii on opening weekend, and finishing in second place, four strokes back the last two weekends. He finished as the bridesmaid to Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines, and again to Phil Mickelson last weekend at The Waste Management Phoenix Open.

As luck would have it, Tiger in not playing this week, he doesn’t like the Poa Annu greens at Pebble Beach, or Riveria, and Phil is struggling with his putter in Northern California, but is only six strokes back at -2 under par in a tie for 39th place. Phil went on a bogey bender at the end of Thursday’s round that followed him to the front nine at Spyglass on Friday. He got the ship righted, and finished with three birdies on the back.

Both players move over to Pebble Beach for the final two rounds. Mickelson has known to get hot at Pebble, and come out of nowhere to win as he did last year beating Tiger Woods. Both need to keep an eye on the leaderboard this weekend, Hunter Mahan is on a mission this week to return to the form that he enjoyed last spring, when he won at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championnship. Mahan’s game fell off during the summer, and after being overlooked for the Ryder Cup, looks to have his game under control again.

The fact that Snedeker, Mahan, and Nick Watney were all passed by for the Ryder Cup still angers me, but then again, I wasn’t the one doing the picking.

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