USA TODAY International Edition
Snedeker takes blame for loss
‘I expected better of myself,’ he says
No one had to spotlight all the mistakes Brandt Snedeker made when, sitting on history’s doorstep, he squandered a substantial lead in the final round of the PGA Tour’s opening act of the 2018-19 season. He did it himself. Immediately after losing in a threeman playoff in the Safeway Open — and then during a long journey over the Pacific Ocean to Malaysia — Snedeker recounted all of his miscues and laid the blame squarely on his shoulders. “I know I’ll look back on this one in a few years and know I gave it away,” Snedeker said after failing to hold on after taking a five-shot lead with 11 holes to play Sunday in search of his 10th PGA Tour title. “I didn’t overcome a little bit of adversity. I didn’t make some pars when I need to. “I expected better of myself. You can say I choked; you can say whatever. It was not good golf the last nine holes, and that’s on me.” Instead of becoming the first player since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007 to win the last regular-season event the previous season and the first event of the new season, Snedeker instead was left looking for answers. The 2012 FedExCup champion was right where he wanted to be; he was in form and he had the memory of his victory in the 2018 Wyndham Championship when he opened with a 59 fresh on his mind. But then his game went haywire. His short irons started going left and his usually reliable putter started letting him down. That’s what frustrated him even more — two of his strengths deserted him, and he couldn’t fix the problems during the round. He drove the ball well for the most part of the final round — which put him in advantageous positions to hold the lead, let alone attack — but short-iron miscues from the tee on the 11th and the fairway on the 10th and 12th led to bogeys. A birdie at 16 gave him the lead again, but he bogeyed the next and eventually lost to Kevin Tway, who birdied the last three holes in regulation and the first two in the playoff to claim his first PGA Tour title. “It never gets easier to get over something like this,” said Snedeker, 37. “This is one I gave away. It shouldn’t have happened, but I only blame myself. I’m not going to let nine holes and poor execution wipe out all the positives that came out of this week. I did a lot of great stuff. I believe my best golf is ahead of me. But I need to learn to execute when I have to and overcome adversity when I have to, and I just didn’t do that today.” But there is another day. In Snedeker’s case, it comes Thursday (Wednesday night in the states). Snedeker will get right back at it in the CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumper in Malaysia as the PGA Tour begins its three-tournament trek through Asia. Tway, Ryan Moore, the other defeated foe in the Safeway playoff, Justin Thomas and defending champion Pat Perez head the field. “What’s great about the Tour is I’ll have an opportunity right away,” Snedeker said. “I’m playing some great golf despite what I did on the back nine. I’m doing a lot of good stuff. I look forward to playing over there and forgetting about this day as quick as I can. “Come the first round, I better have my head on straight.”