Snedeker wins Myrtle Beach Classic for first PGA Tour title in nearly 8 years

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Brandt Snedeker poured in the birdies on the back nine and closed with a 5-under 66 to win the Myrtle Beach Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title in nearly eight years, earning a surprising spot in the PGA Championship.

And now the Presidents Cup captain will get a closer look at his American players the rest of the year. The victory should get him into high-profile tournaments the 45-year-old Snedeker might not have been expecting.

Snedeker drove into the right trees on the 18th hole at Dunes Golf and Beach Club, pitched out to the fairway and two-putted from 30 feet for bogey.

“I feel amazing,” said Snedeker, whose last win was the Wyndham Championship in 2018. “I feel so lucky to still be out here still doing what I love to do. To have a chance to win a golf tournament at my age and to be able to pull it out is something super special. I’m just so pumped.”

Mark Hubbard, seeking his first PGA Tour win in his 274th start, was tied for the lead when he did the same thing — a drive into trouble on the right, no real option but to pitch back to the fairway and a 25-foot par to force a playoff that missed. Hubbard shot 70.

“I thought I hit a much better wedge shot in there,” Hubbard said. “I thought it was going to get a lot closer, and the putt I left myself was five feet of break down grain. So it’s not a putt you’re going to make too much. I was just happy I gave it a good run.”

Snedeker finished at 18-under 266 for his 10th career PGA Tour victory. Because the Myrtle Beach Classic is held opposite the signature event at Quail Hollow, the victory does not give him a spot in the Masters, only the PGA Championship.

But it also comes with a two-year exemption, massive for Snedeker having spent the last few years trying to recover from sternum surgery and not getting any younger.

Snedeker said the victory “means everything,” and then he proceeded to explain.

“To not have my card the last couple of years, to be struggling to do what I love, to still have a passion to play this game the way I want to play it and to show people how I can still do it,” he said. “Hopefully it shows my family, my kids something.”

Beau Hossler (68) and Kevin Roy (69) tied for third, two shots behind.

Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., finished in an eight-way tie for 45th at five under. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., finished at 4 under and in a seven-way tie for 53rd.

Brooks Koepka felt he was hitting the ball and was waiting for the putter to heat up. It didn’t. Koepka managed only two birdies on a course with tougher pins, closed with a 70 and tied for 11th.

Blades Brown, the 18-year-old who graduated high school in January, shot 67 and tied for ninth, his second top 10 on the PGA Tour this year. He also finished third in the Puerto Rico Open, another opposite-field event. Brown played in the final group with Scottie Scheffler at The American Express and fell back late in the round to tie for 18th.

The top 10 makes him eligible for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in two weeks.

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The Associated Press