ORLANDO, Fla. — The golf landscape this season has been dominated by three of the biggest names in the game.
But despite what the statistics say, Brandt Snedeker is not one of them.
Snedeker leads the PGA Tour money list with $2,859,920 in earnings this year. He’s atop the points standings in the Fed-Ex Cup, which he won last year. He’s No. 4 in the world rankings, is third on the tour in lowest scoring average and has the most top-10 finishes with four in his five starts — including his one victory, at the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach in February.
Despite all the reasons to believe Snedeker should be at the top of the short list as a favorite this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill or next month at The Masters, he is not.
Part of that is because we all obsess (and with good reason) over Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson — the game’s biggest stars.
Part of that, too, is because Snedeker has not played a tournament since his Pebble Beach victory, resting an intercostal rib muscle strain.
Though this week at Bay Hill is his first event in six weeks, Snedeker insisted yesterday his layoff has not altered his confidence, which was at an all-time high before he took the five weeks off.
“I have very high expectations,’’ he said. “I’m very confident in what I’m doing. I’m fresh. I’m probably the freshest guy on the PGA Tour right now. because I haven’t played in five weeks.’’
Snedeker was the hottest player in the game when he stepped away — hotter than Woods, McIlroy and Mickelson. Yet he insisted he’s not concerning himself about picking up where he left off.
“I could care a less about getting it back,’’ Snedeker said. “I am not playing anywhere near as well as Tiger Woods is right now, so we can answer that question and get that out of the way. He’s playing unbelievable golf.’’
Woods is fresh off his WGC-Cadillac win two weeks ago at Doral, his seventh victory at that venue, and he is vying for his eighth win at Bay Hill this week.
“I’d love to see him on Sunday afternoon and see how I stack up against him,’’ Snedeker said. “He’s playing unbelievable. He’s sharp right now. I’ve got to develop that again. Hopefully, I might be able to do it in the next couple days.’’
When asked what “concern’’ he has now about the injury, Snedeker said, “None,’’ adding, “I feel completely healthy.’’
Snedeker did reveal he was initially “concerned’’ about being able to play The Masters.
What is of no concern to Snedeker, though, are his lack of celebrity or the statistics, such as his world ranking.
“I don’t put too much emphasis on the world ranking,’’ he said. “I feel like if you go and you play and you play well and you win, all of it takes care of itself. At the end of the day, you’re remembered for winning golf tournaments. You’re not remembered for being the No. 3 golfer in the world. Nobody really cares.’’
Snedeker, whose past 10 tournament rounds have been in the 60s, said he initially felt soreness in his left rib cage at the Humana Challenge.
He underwent treatment there, then went on to finish second in consecutive weeks at the Farmers Insurance Open (to Woods) and the Waste Management Phoenix Open (to Mickelson) before his win at Pebble Beach, where the injury resurfaced and forced him to step away for rest.
When he was away from the game, hanging out with his family at home in Nashville, Snedeker said he “watched a lot’’ of golf on TV.
“I’m not one of these guys that says I like to get away from it,’’ he said. “I’m a fan. Just like everybody else out there, I love watching golf on TV.
“I like seeing what guys are doing. I had fun watching Tiger at Doral.’’
Snedeker will have a lot more fun beating Tiger this week at Bay Hill if he can pull it off.