By Christopher Powers
On his opening tee shot Thursday at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., Brandt Snedeker badly snap-hooked a 3-wood into the trees down the left side of Sedgefield Country Club’s 10th hole. He went on to bogey the hole, which is nothing a tour pro couldn’t recover from, but it wasn’t the most confidence-inspiring way to begin a tournament.

WATCH: How Snedeker produced the 10th 59 in PGA Tour history

But Snedeker did more than just recover as he went on to play the round of his life, carding an 11-under 59 even with that bogey, marking the 10th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history and making him just the ninth player to ever accomplish the feat (Jim Furyk has done it twice). It was also good enough for a four-shot lead over Ryan Moore and John Oda.

Making the round all the more impressive was the fact that the eight-time tour winner was still one over through three holes before he went on his first run of four consecutive birdies, two of which came from 26 feet. Two more pars at 17 and 18 gave him a front-nine 32, meaning he needed to shoot something out of this world on the back nine for 59 to even come into consideration.

Even after Snedeker birdied four of his first five holes on his back nine he was still only at seven under with four holes to go. He needed to play that closing stretch in four under, and he took a big chunk out of that, and the cup, at the par-4 sixth, flying a 7-iron directly in the hole for eagle to get to nine under. At the par-3 seventh he put his tee shot to within three feet, cleaning up another birdie and needing just one more on the final two holes for 59, which he was well aware of.

“Really cool feeling to be standing on eight tee and tell myself if I hit two fairways I’m going to shoot 59,” said Snedeker. “Because they were both birdie holes and I felt like I could get it done the way I was playing.”

He did hit the fairway at the eighth, and then hit his approach to six feet, all but locking up another birdie with the way he was putting. But he missed, forcing himself to have to make birdie at his final hole. Facing a 20-footer on the ninth green, Snedeker came up clutch and rolled it in, letting out a huge celebration as he made history.

“To know what you’re trying to do, step up there and have a 20-footer and know what it means, I was very aware of what was going on,”he said. “To knock that in was very special. To know that I’m part of a small club on tour, not many people have done this, really cool feeling right now.”

And to think without a bogey at the first, and that short miss at No. 8, it could have been even better.

“Missed a short one on eight from about four feet that could have made it even more special, but happy with the way everything turned out.”

Per Golf Channel’s Justin Ray, Snedeker became the first player in history to shoot a sub-60 after being over par at any point during the round. He’s also only the third player to break 60 with a bogey, something only Justin Thomas and Jim Furyk had previously done. Still, while incredible, memorable and one that cements his place in golf history, there’s more work to be done this week.

“I’m very aware there’s a lot of golf left,” Snedeker said. “This means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of this golf tournament. Eighteen-to-24-under par seems to win here every year. So I’m going to have to make a lot more birdies to be around on Sunday. That being said, I’m off to a great start, build on the day and hopefully do what some guys have been able to do here and that’s run away.”

If he does go on to win, it will make him only the fifth player to go on to win the same event that he shot 59 in. The last to do it was Thomas at the 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii.

Moore and Oda, the latter playing in just his 10th PGA Tour event, are still within striking distance following their opening-round 63s, both bogey-free. Oda has quietly impressed in his limited starts this season, finishing eighth in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba and posting a T-3 at the Barracuda Championship. For Moore, the first-round 63 is his lowest on tour since a final-round 64 at the 2016 Tour Championship, where he lost in a three-way playoff with Kevin Chappell and Rory McIlroy. The 2016 Ryder Cup team member has struggled to find similar form since, having finished inside the top 10 just six times in his last 43 starts on tour.

Seven players are tied for fourth at six under, including Ollie Schniederjans, who nearly captured his maiden victory here a year ago but came up one-shot short of winner Henrik Stenson.

American Ryder Cup team captain Jim Furyk carded a five-under 65, while Sergio Garcia, who is in need of a strong week to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs (131st in the standings), shot a four-under 66.

The post Brandt Snedeker’s first-round 59 gives him four-stroke lead at Wyndham Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Brandt Snedeker carded an 11-under 59 on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, the 10th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history. It’s the first since Adam Hadwin’s 13-under 59 at the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge, which came just one week after Justin Thomas’ 11-under 59 at the Sony Open.

And to think, it began with a bogey at Sedgefield Country Club’s 440-yard par-4 10th hole, where Snedeker missed a seven-footer for par to start his round one over. After making pars at the 11th and 12th holes, let’s just say the 59Watch wasn’t on.

But Snedeker got the putter going at the par-4 13th, holing a 26 footer to get back to even par. He followed with three consecutive birdies, including another 26-footer at the 14th and a 14-footer at the par-3 16th. Pars at 17 and 18 saw him turn in three-under 32, a strong front nine, but again, not exactly the makings of a 59.

That was until Snedeker reached Sedgefield’s front nine (his back), where made three straight birdies, all after stellar approach shots that left him five feet or less each time. This shot at the second nearly went in:

Tied for the lead.@BrandtSnedeker‘s ? start continues.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/y2kjh48axQ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2018

At this point it was clear he was dialed in, sticking another at the par-3 third:

4 birdies in a row on his opening nine. ????

3 birdies in a row on the back nine. ???@BrandtSnedeker leads the @WyndhamChamp.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/xZVq65GgZs

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2018

A boring par at the fourth gave way to another run, this run his best of the day, starting with an easy up-and-down birdie at the par-5 fifth and then one of the shots of the year at the par-4 sixth, where Snedeker flew in a 7-iron from the fairway for eagle (and he didn’t even know it went in):

DUNK! ?

And @BrandtSnedeker had NO idea. ?#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/U3BpsLD5mq

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2018

At nine under, this was realistically the first time 59 was in play, and Snedeker kept it rolling at the par-3 seventh, stroking his tee shot to within three feet:

10 UNDER!@BrandtSnedeker needs one birdie in his final two holes to shoot 59.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/UOAIwan1rJ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2018

That got him to 10 under, meaning he needed just one birdie on his final two holes (par 70) to card a 59. Once again, at the par-4 eighth, he hit another beautiful approach, this one coming to rest six feet from the hole and all but locking up another birdie. But Snedeker missed!

SO close.

With this miss, @BrandtSnedeker needs to birdie his final hole to shoot 59.

Watch his final hole on @PGATOURLIVE: https://t.co/aWLH5GSUGt pic.twitter.com/HbbxoavGGm

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2018

Snedeker found the fairway at the par-4 ninth, and hit one of his worst approaches of the day to 20 feet (sarcasm), needing to hole a long one for 59. He delivered:

?59?@BrandtSnedeker shoots a 59!#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/qMag0wlolC

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2018

Incredible round from Snedeker, who was hampered by a rib injury for much of 2017, forcing him to call it a year last August. He began is 2017-’18 campaign in November at the RSM Classic and has had a decent season, but not one he’s accustomed to. In 22 events he has just three top 10s, but two of them have come in the last two months, a T-3 at The Greenbrier and a T-8 at the RBC Canadian Open. Those results, plus a historic 59, signal his game is trending in the right direction.

The round makes Snedeker the ninth player to shoot a sub-60 round on the PGA Tour. There have been 10 total, but two have been shot by Jim Furyk. It’s the six time someone’s joined the club since 2010 alone. Surprisingly, if Snedeker goes on to win, he’d become just the fifth player to shoot a sub-60 round and win the event.

The post Brandt Snedeker shoots 10th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history with 11-under 59 at the Wyndham Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But here are a few other things you need to know about the 24-year-old rising star, and the favourite for the 2017 PGA Tour Player of the Year:

Getty Images

Justin Thomas has been dreaming of making it on the PGA Tour since attending, at age 7, Tiger Woods’ win in the 2000 PGA at Valhalla.

JT has a VHS tape of the tournament, which he estimates he’s watched 50 times, motivating the Louisville native to put in the work to one day make it to the same stage.

Add Justin’s win at the PGA Championship to the long line of champions with strong PGA of America ties.

Justin grew up in Kentucky, playing a lot of golf with his father, Mike, being the club pro at Harmony Landing outside Louisville. And Justin’s grandpa, Paul, was also a club pro, serving in Zanesville, Ohio. Paul was a good enough player to play in the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont.

The 2017 PGA Championship winner would spend most days in the summer picking the range and hitting shots as his father worked.

At the end of the day, he and his dad would play for dollars as a kid after he was done picking the range, and it got competitive: “We would play for a dollar, and it was pretty heated out there. And I’m a pretty sore loser, so I did not handle it well when I lost and had to give up a dollar,” he said.

Sam Greenwood

Though he hasn’t been on a Ryder Cup team yet, Justin Thomas celebrated the 2008 victory at Valhalla with some VIP access.

One of Thomas’ favourite memories is high-fiving Phil Mickelson behind the 17th green when J.B. Holmes clinched the winning point for the U.S. team at Valhalla. With his father being on the PGA of America board that week, Thomas got to hang out with all the players that week.

Getty Images

Thomas’ win at Quail Hollow might’ve clinched the 2017 Player of the Year title.

This season was already stellar — with three PGA Tour victories, including a 59 in his win at the Sony Open, and a (then) record-tying 63 at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills. The PGA Championship victory gives him the most wins out of all major winners this year.

Photo by Walter Iooss Jr.

At 145 pounds (66kg), Justin Thomas is one of the biggest hitters on tour, pound for pound.

It’s actually insane how far JT hits it, given his size. Thomas ranked first in driving distance at Quail Hollow (328 yards off the tee) and ranks seventh on the PGA Tour this year (310 yards, 10 yards more than the tour average).

He had one of the most impressive collegiate resumes in recent memory.

As a freshman at Alabama, Thomas won the Haskins Award as the nation’s top golfer in 2012. He turned pro after his sophomore year, in which the Crimson Tide won the 2013 NCAA Championship and earned his PGA Tour card after a strong 2014 on the Web.com Tour.

Thomas is roommates with fellow Alabama golfer and PGA Tour player Bud Cauley in Jupiter, Fla.

Their prize possession is a custom, crimson-colored pool table with a Bama logo. Along with so many other tour pros, Thomas and Cauley reside and practice in Jupiter, where they’re both members of Medalist G.C. and The Bear’s Club.

You may or may not have heard, but Justin is buddies with Jordan Spieth.

Since they competed at the Evian Junior Masters in France when they were 14 and 13 (above), they’ve been buddies. Thomas told Golf Digest in 2014: “I don’t think him and I really sit back and reflect on what we’ve accomplished too much, but I probably do more than Jordan does,” Thomas said. “And it’s pretty cool. It’s crazy to think where our careers are gonna end up and how long we’ll be competing on the same level.”

RELATED: My Shot: Justin Thomas goes deep on Alabama football, Nick Saban’s chipping, and putting games with Jordan Spieth

The Spring Break boys now have four major wins with Thomas’ win.

And victories in the final two majors of the year, with Spieth winning his third at The Open, and Thomas taking home the title at Quail Hollow. Spieth’s no longer the only #SB2K16/17 bro with a major win.

When you realize Christmas is only 2 days away…

A post shared by Justin Thomas (@justinthomas34) on Dec 23, 2016 at 8:12am PST

Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler made back-to-back holes-in-one at the 2016 Masters Par-3 Contest.

Paired with Spieth, the trio shared a moment they’ll never forget.

Thomas made sure his girlfriend, Jillian Wisniewski, was at Quail Hollow to see his first major win.

Though we usually don’t get too much inside info about his girl on social media, we found out Thomas didn’t want Jillian to miss his big win: “My girlfriend was supposed to fly out [of North Carolina] at about 7:00 and I was like, ‘You need to change your flight to later, because I don’t know, I just feel like I don’t want you to miss this, I feel like I’m going to get it done,” he said after.

@vokeywedges hooked me up with a few of my favorite (clean) rap lines for my fresh set.. Lovin em! Have to thank @wosellers for some help too

A post shared by Justin Thomas (@justinthomas34) on Feb 24, 2015 at 8:47am PST

You can always find cool stampings on Thomas’ wedges.

Usually, Thomas’ wedges are stamped with “RADAR,” describing his spot-on wedge play. But as seen above, he’ll mix in the occasional hip-hop lyric, such as these from 2015, with Lil’ Wayne, Rick Ross and Drake songs.

The family is very tight-knit: Justin’s mom regularly travels with him on tour—even hanging with him and his friends and going out to dinner with them.

During Thomas’ rookie season, his mom, Jani, would regularly go out to dinner with Thomas’ friends at night. And if you’re at a tour event in which Thomas is playing, you can expect to see her around the grounds each week.

Stuart Franklin

–His father, Mike, has a frame of the golf balls from special moments in Justin’s career.

Moments from this year include Thomas’ record-tying 63 in the third round at Erin Hills, and the 59 at the Sony Open. We’re quite confident at least one ball from Quail Hollow (above) will make it to the display.

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