Brandt Newell Snedeker (born December 8, 1980) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

. He won the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

with a victory in the

Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

East Lake Golf Club East Lake Golf Club is a private golf club 5 miles east of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1904, it is the oldest golf course in the city. East Lake was the home course of golfer Bobby Jones (golfer), Bobby Jones and much of its clubh ...

. Following this victory, he moved into the top ten of the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

for the first time in his career. In February

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, after winning the

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held annually at Pebble Beach, California, near Carmel. The tournament is usually held during the month of February on two different courses, currently Pebble Beach ...

, he moved to a career high of number four in the world. On August 16, 2018, he shot the tenth sub-60 round in the history of the PGA Tour, firing an opening round 59 at the

Wyndham Championship The Wyndham Championship is a professional golf tournament in North Carolina on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in Greensboro and was originally the Greater Greensboro Open. History Founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open, it was usua ...

Early years and college

Snedeker was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

to parents Larry and Candice Snedeker. He was introduced to golf by his maternal grandmother, who managed a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

West Plains, Missouri West Plains is a List of cities in Missouri, city in and the County seat#United States, county seat of Howell County, Missouri, Howell County, Missouri, United States. The population was 12,184 at the 2020 census. History The history of West Pl ...

. He attended Harding Academy,

Montgomery Bell Academy Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. The school is located in the Whitland Area Neighborhood. History MBA was established in 1867 in the aftermath of the American ...

and then

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, where he was initiated into Kappa Alpha Order by the Chi Chapter. He won the U.S. Amateur Public Links in 2003 before turning professional in 2004.

Professional career

2004–06: On the Nationwide Tour

Snedeker played on the

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

from 2004 until 2006, when he finished 9th on the tour money list after victories at the Showdown at Somerby and the Permian Basin Charity Golf Classic, thus earning a

spot for 2007. While on the Nationwide Tour, Snedeker earned two wins, two runners-up, 12 tops 10s and earned $549,564.

2007: PGA Tour Rookie of the Year

Snedeker garnered immediate attention in January

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

after shooting a course record equaling 61 in the first round of the Buick Invitational. He led the tournament by three strokes after 36 holes but due to a 74 in the third round he finished in third place. He made eight consecutive cuts starting at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in January and ending at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. In that span he recorded three top-25 finishes. In four tournaments in April, he made two cuts including a finish of T16 at the Verizon Heritage. From May to early June, Snedeker made the cut in two of the four tournaments he entered, including a T12 finish at the prestigious Players Championship. Snedeker then went on a hot streak starting at the Stanford St. Jude Championship on June 10. He finished in a tie for fifth at that tournament and by doing so surpassed $1 million in earnings on tour in 2007. He finished in a tie for 23rd at the U.S. Open the following week. In early July he recorded two top-10 finishes, including a tie for 10th at the

Buick Open The Buick Open was a PGA Tour golf tournament from 1958 to 2009. In 2007, the tournament was held at the end of June, a change from its traditional spot between The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. Regardless, many prominent players use ...

. This finish put Snedeker into the top 100 of the

for the first time. Later in July, Snedeker finished in a tie for 7th at the Canadian Open. A fortnight later he played in the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

for the first time and finished in a tie for 18th place. Snedeker picked up his first PGA Tour victory the next week at the

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. This win propelled him to a world ranking of 55th. The Wyndham Championship was the last regular season event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Snedeker entered the playoffs in 9th place in the point standings. He played in all four playoff events, recording finishes of missed cut, T47, T14 and T29. Snedeker finished in 20th place in the final points standings, which earned him a bonus check of $225,000. Due to his fine debut performance on tour, Snedeker was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 2007. He entered 29 PGA Tour events in 2007, making 23 cuts. He had one win, a third-place finish, six top-10 finishes and 13 top-25 finishes. He earned $2,836,643 which put him in 17th on the final money list and he finished 2007 ranked 47th in the world rankings.

2008–10

Snedeker began the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

season with a tied for 10th finish at the Mercedes-Benz Championship. He finished tied for 9th at the

FBR Open The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. The tournament was originally the Arizo ...

in February and tied for 8th at the PODS Championship in March. Snedeker recorded his first top-10 in a major at the 2008 Masters, where he finished tied for third. He went into the final round in second place, two strokes behind eventual winner Trevor Immelman but Snedeker shot a final round 77. Following his third-place finish at the

2008 Masters Tournament The 2008 Masters Tournament was the 72nd Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Trevor Immelman won his first Men's major golf championships, major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Tiger Wo ...

, Snedeker reached a new high of 32nd in the world rankings. Snedeker finished in the top-10 for the second time in a major at the 2008 U.S. Open where he finished tied for 9th. For the rest of the year Snedeker struggled to maintain his early season consistency and did not record another top-10 finish for the season. Snedeker made 19 of 26 cuts on the year and recorded five top-10s, seven top-25s and earned $1,531,442 while finishing 34th in the FedEx Cup standings. Snedeker struggled in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, making only 14 of 26 cuts and failing to make the cut in 9 of his first 12 tournaments. His play improved in the summer as he had two consecutive top-5 finishes, a tie for 5th place at the AT&T National, and a tie for 2nd place at the John Deere Classic. These were followed by two more top-5 finishes at the RBC Canadian Open and the

. Despite this mid season form he missed the cut in all four of the years majors. One factor contributing to Snedeker's uneven play in 2009 was his health. He missed seven consecutive tournaments in the middle of the season due to a rib injury. Snedeker finished the season 55th on the money list. Snedeker started the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

season well with a top-10 finish at the Bob Hope Classic which he then followed up with a runner-up finish at the Farmers Insurance Open. Snedeker played consistently throughout the early season making eight consecutive cuts through to April. However he then missed five of his next seven cuts and did not record a single top-25 finish until the U.S. Open where Snedeker finished in a tie for 8th place at

Pebble Beach Golf Links Pebble Beach Golf Links is a public golf course located in Pebble Beach, California, U.S. Opened in 1919, it is regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, o ...

, his best ever finish in the U.S. Open. For the rest of season he played steadily and recorded two more top-10s at the Wyndham Championship and the end of season playoff event the

Deutsche Bank Championship The Dell Technologies Championship, originally the Deutsche Bank Championship, was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was played annually from 2003 to 2018. It was held in Norton, Massachusetts, United States, over the Labor Day ...

. Snedeker ended the year 48th on the money list. Brandt Snedeker at 2010 PGA Championship

2011

Snedeker had an inconsistent start to the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

season missing his first cut at the Bob Hope Classic, but followed that up with two consecutive top-10 finishes at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. This was then followed by a further two missed cuts and a withdrawal from the Honda Classic to attend the birth of his first child. He returned to the tour with a 4th-place finish at the Transitions Championship and then at the year's first major championship, the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

finished in a tie for 15th. The following week Snedeker had a chance to win his second PGA Tour title at the

Valero Texas Open The Texas Open, known as the Valero Texas Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played near San Antonio, Texas. It dates back years to 1922, when it was first called the Texas Open; San Antonio-based Va ...

but made a number of mistakes on the back nine on Sunday which cost him victory, eventually finishing alone in 4th. Snedeker won his second PGA Tour title at The Heritage, beating

Luke Donald Luke Campbell Donald Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 7 December 1977) is an English professional golfer and former List of World Number One male golfers, world number one. He plays mainly on the U.S.-based PGA Tour but is also a member of ...

in a sudden-death playoff at the third extra hole. Snedeker shot a seven-under-par round of 64 to recover from six shots back on the Sunday to tie Donald. The first two extra holes were parred by both players, but when Donald's par chip missed on the third extra hole, Snedeker sealed the win. This victory took Snedeker to 38th in the world rankings. In November 2011, Snedeker underwent elective surgery on his right hip in order to fix a degenerative issue. This sidelined him for six to eight weeks at the end of year, however Snedeker confirmed he wished to have surgery at this stage in order to be fully fit for the 2012 season. Snedeker finished the season 14th on the money list.

2012

Snedeker won his third PGA Tour title at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. He started the day seven shots behind the leader Kyle Stanley, but after firing a final round 67 he was the leader in the clubhouse while the final group completed its rounds. Stanley had a three stroke lead coming to the final hole, but pitched his third shot into the water resulting in a triple bogey 8 to take the tournament to a playoff. After both players made birdie on the first extra hole, Snedeker prevailed with an up-and-down for par on the second hole after Stanley missed his par putt. Snedeker entered the top 20 in the

after his win. Snedeker had to withdraw from the 2012 U.S. Open due to a rib injury. During a practice round for the 2012 Open Championship, Snedeker holed a driver from the tee on the 16th hole, a 336-yard par 4. In the championship itself, he scored 66 and 64 in the first two rounds to equal the lowest 36 hole score in the tournament by

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...

in 1992. Snedeker finished with rounds of 73 and 74 to share 3rd place with

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

at three under par, four shots behind the winner, Ernie Els Snedeker won the 2012 FedEx Cup and the $10 million prize after winning the

2013

Snedeker began his

season with three top-3 finishes in his first four tournaments: third at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, tied for second at the Farmers Insurance Open, and solo second at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He then won in his fifth start of the year, the

and moved up to a career-high 4th in the

. He pulled out of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship the following week, citing a rib injury. He was later diagnosed with "low bone turnover" and began taking daily injections to increase his bone mass. He had top-10 finishes at the Masters Tournament ( T-6), the Players Championship ( T-8), and the AT&T National (T-8), before winning his second tournament of the season at the RBC Canadian Open. Snedeker spent the entire 2013 PGA Tour season inside the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings.

2014

Snedeker had only three top-10 finishes on the tour in 2014, with a best finish of T-5 at the

. He finished 86th on the FedEx Cup points list and 60th on the money list.

2015

After a winless 2014 including many missed cut and rare top-ten finishes, Snedeker worked in the off-season with his coach Butch Harmon to find new sensation in his swing and especially new mental strength. This hard work finally paid off at the

, where Snedeker won for the second time in three years with the score of −22, three strokes ahead of Nick Watney. This was the seventh PGA Tour title for Snedeker and the victory lifted him back in the top 50 in the World Ranking. Snedeker was back to his consistent ways in the 2015 PGA Tour season with frequent places in the top-10 of events. Three ties for 10th occurred early in the season at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open,

WGC-HSBC Champions The WGC-HSBC Champions was a professional golf tournament, held annually in China. Inaugurated in 2005, the first seven editions were played at the Sheshan Golf Club in Shanghai, then moved to the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen for a sin ...

, and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. After missing the cut at both the 2015 Masters Tournament and

The Players Championship The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as THE PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The ...

, Snedeker, finished tied for 2nd at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, tied for 6th at the AT&T Byron Nelson and solo 8th at the U.S. Open at

Chambers Bay Chambers Bay is a public golf course on Puget Sound southwest of Tacoma, Washington, United States, in the city of University Place. The British links-style course is owned by Pierce County and opened for play on June 23, 2007. It hosted the U. ...

2018

Snedeker shot 59 in the first round of the

, becoming the 10th player in the history of the PGA Tour to post a sub-60 round in competition. He went on to win the tournament, posting a total score of 259, 21 under par.

2025

In 2025, he was named captain of the U.S.

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

team to be played September 22–27, 2026 at

Medinah Country Club Medinah Country Club is a private country club in Medinah, Illinois, with nearly 600 members and containing three golf courses, Lake Kadijah, swimming facilities, a golf learning center, golf shop, gun club, racket center and a mosque-evokin ...

in Illinois. He played as a member of the team in 2013 and was assistant captain in 2024. He played in the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

in 2012 and 2016, and is scheduled to play in 2025 tournament. He received the 2024 Payne Stewart Award, given for outstanding character and sportsmanship.

Personal life

Snedeker resides in Nashville with his wife Mandy and his children Lily and Austin who were born in 2011 and 2012. He used to work with instructor Butch Harmon. His brother, Haymes Snedeker, won The Big Break X: Michigan, and earned a shot at Q school and the PGA Tour.

Amateur wins

*2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links

Professional wins (13)

PGA Tour wins (9)

PGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

European Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

PGA Tour of Australasia The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently titled as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf ...

Nationwide Tour wins (2)

Nationwide Tour playoff record (2–1)

Other wins (1)

Other playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (2013 Masters – 2014 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2008 Masters – 2008 U.S. Open)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the

Results in World Golf Championships

''Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.'' ¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary

''* As of the 2020 season.''

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Palmer Cup The Palmer Cup is a 1200–1215 CE goblet from northern Syria or Jazira region, Jazira, and an example of early Islamic glass. It is sometimes described as "Ayyubid", since it corresponds to the time when the Ayyubids disputed control of areas of ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

(winners) *

(winners)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Snedeker, Brandt American male golfers Vanderbilt Commodores men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Nashville, Tennessee 1980 births Living people Presidents Cup competitors for the United States