Quick Hitters
The Arizona Western football team is ranked third in the preseason NJCAA poll that was released Wednesday.
The Matadors, who have played in two straight national championship games, are ranked behind only East Mississippi (No. 1) and Iowa Western (No. 2).
Three opponents on AWC’s regular-season schedule are ranked: No. 4 Snow, No. 15 Georgia Military and No. 20 Eastern Arizona.
AWC opens the season next Friday night against New Mexico Military Institute at Yuma Catholic.
Hawks win golf opener
The Gila Ridge boys golf team opened its season Friday at Cocopah with a 166-194 win against Youngker.
Mason Morris earned medalist honors with a 39, while Davin Grant shot a 41, David Ramirez a 42 and Joab Beck a 44.
Brandt Snedeker shoots 59 at Wyndham Championship
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Brandt Snedeker shot an 11-under 59 on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, falling one shot shy of matching the PGA Tour record.
He made a 20-foot putt on his final hole to become the 10th player in tour history to break 60. Jim Furyk set the record with a 58 in the final round of the Travelers Championship in 2016.
“I better be smiling,” Snedeker said. “I don’t do this every day.”
Snedeker began his round at par-70 Sedgefield Country Club with a bogey at No. 10, and he took off from there. He played the front nine in 27, including an eagle 2 on the par-4 sixth hole when he holed out from 176 yards.
This is the third consecutive year the PGA Tour has had a sub-60 round. Snedeker is the first to shoot 59 since Adam Hadwin in the third round of the 2017 Careerbuilder Challenge.
Snedeker, the 2012 FedEx Cup champion, won Wyndham in 2007. He broke Si Woo Kim’s 2-year-old Wyndham record of 60 and had the best opening round in Wyndham history. Arjun Atwal had a 61 in 2010.
It’s been a somewhat frustrating, turbulent year for Snedeker. He has three top-10 finishes and two missed cuts in his last seven events and has not won on tour since 2016. During his first 16 tournaments of the season, he finished in the top 10 just once.
At No. 80 on the points list entering the final event of the tour’s regular season, he’s nowhere near the playoff bubble and his spot at The Northern Trust next week in New Jersey seems safe.