Sneds hot in Round 2 flirting with a 59
American settles for 60 at RBC Canadian Open
We interrupt this RBC Canadian Open 59 watch to bring you Sportscentre starring Brandt Snedeker, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas.
With groups backed up on the eighth hole at Hamilton Golf and Country Club on Friday, the star- studded threesome faced a 10-minute wait on the tee box of the 212- yard par 3. The trio — which began their day on the 10th hole — had two holes to play and Snedeker needed to go birdie- birdie to shoot his second career 59.
That didn’t stop the Americans from engaging in a lively conversation while they waited. They talked boxing, MMA, hockey — and even a little golf.
“I don’t think people realize we’re not talking about golf the majority of the time we’re out there,” Koepka said after his round. “I don’t know how long we played, five hours, maybe a little bit more. We’re not going to talk about golf the entire time. It’s fun to mess around a little bit and talk about other things.”
Other things i ndeed. Such as, how much they would have to be paid to be punched square in the face by a boxer. Or what their tactic would be should they find themselves in the octagon against an MMA fighter. The most creative answer to that particular dilemma was to run around in a circle as long as possible before
jumping in the fetal position and turtling. We won’t say whose plan that was, but it wasn’t the back- to- back U. S. Open champ who pointed out a major flaw in the plan, “You’ll just get choked out.”
Perhaps because we are in Canada, the conversation switched to hockey — more specifically, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who played Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night with a broken jaw.
“He’s a unit,” Koepka said with admiration.
“Six- nine off his skates,” Thomas said.
Koepka bent forward and gave his impression of the hulking Chara speaking with a referee which drew some laughs. The only golf talk was about the over- refreshed and energetic fans at Bethpage Black during the PGA Championship. Koepka, who won the season’s second major, explained that the boisterous crowd was yelling at him pretty much all round on the Friday. They all seemed to agree that the 2024 Ryder Cup at Bethpage will be quite a scene, especially if the travelling British fans meet up with the New York fans late one afternoon.
Snedeker, who already had seven birdies and an eagle on his card, arrived for the long wait on the eighth tee coming off an incredible up- and- down at the seventh hole after hitting that approach shot, um, quite far right of the green.
“Shanked it, you can say shanked it,” Snedeker would say after his round.
The 38-year-old’s ball was in the deep rough beside the seventh green but he wasted no time in hitting a lob wedge with the face wide open, over the greenside bunker and onto the putting surface. He then rolled in a 12- footer for par before heading to the long wait on the eighth hole.
He arrived to the tee box looking relaxed and cool despite his amazing up-anddown and his scorching round. Thomas colourfully congratulated him on his interesting par.
“I mean, man that guy can putt,” Thomas said of Snedeker after the round. “It was unbelievable.”
Snedeke r made an astounding 136 feet of putts on Friday, gaining nearly six (yes, six!) strokes on the field with his putter. He shot a 59 last year at the Wyndham Championship, and said the thought of shooting another one didn’t cross his mind until this eighth hole when amidst sports talk with playing partners, he had plenty of time to think.
“Like, Oh, if I finish birdie, birdie I can shoot 59 again,” Snedeker said after his round.
That didn’t happen. When the eighth green finally cleared, none of them hit the shot they had hoped for. Snedeker found the green but had a 53-foot putt for birdie. Thomas found the bunker, Koepka the rough.
Would the breezy atmosphere end with a trio of bogeys? Of course not. All three saved par and headed to the final hole, where Snedeker birdied to finish with a 10- under 60, and a new course record.
“Sneds is a great dude and very similar to me,” Thomas said. “We like to give each other crap and jabs. It was pretty fun out there watching him make all those putts.”
Koepka also enjoyed the group and got to know Snedeker when the two were paired together in the Ryder Cup in 2016.
As for Mr. 60? The 2013 RBC Canadian Open champion and longtime RBC ambassador isn’t quite sure how many course records he holds, but he’s happy to hold one in Canada.
“The people up here are just so nice and I feel like I’m part Canadian,” Snedeker said. “They treat me like one.”
Snedeker’s hot round left him one shot behind co- l eaders Scott Brown and Matt Kuchar, who both shot 63s to finish the day at 12- under 128. Snedeker was at 11-under with Nick Taylor ( 65) of Abbotsford, B.C., the top Canadian on a day when home country content filled four of the top 10 spots on the leaderboard. Adam Hadwin (66), also of Abbotsford, sits at 9- under, while Mackenzie Hughes ( 66) of Dundas, Ont,. and Ben Silverman ( 61) of Thornhill, Ont., are in a group at 8-under. Other Canadians above the cut line included: Richard Jung of Toronto ( 4- under, 69), and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C. (70, 2-under), who made the cut right on the number.
Falling just shy of the cut line were Canadians Austin Connelly ( 70), Adam Svensson (70), Corey Conners (69) and Mike Weir ( 69), all at 1-under.
IT WAS PRETTY FUN OUT THERE WATCHING HIM.