Sports

Snedeker falls apart on back 9 at Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Brandt Snedeker believed this would be the year he could win the Masters. Sure, winning the FedEx Cup and $10 million last fall was great. But what he coveted most was winning his first major championship at the Masters. Perhaps he wanted it too much.

Despite starting in the final group, Snedeker stumbled to a 3-over-par 75 yesterday and finished five shots behind Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera, who went into a playoff at 9-under. Scott won on the second playoff hole, while Snedeker was left with frustration and disappointment.

“Any time you have a chance to win the Masters and you don’t come through, my life-long dream, you’re going to be upset, you’re going to cry,” Snedeker said. “But I’ll get through it.”

Snedeker’s undoing began at the 10th hole when he missed a 2-foot putt for par. He three-putted for another bogey at the par-4 11th and suffered another bogey at the par-4 14th when he left his par putt short. Snedeker had trouble with the speed of the greens, softened by rain throughout most of the round.

“I did not do a good job of making adjustments and I’m disappointed,” Snedeker said. “I was there for one reason, to win, and I didn’t do it.”

Snedeker said he noticed the speed of the greens change as he was about to make the turn.

“The back nine, I could not get a putt to the hole no matter what I did,” he said. “I hardly ever leave putts short. And I probably left every putt short coming in, which is very unlike me. So I didn’t make the adjustment that you’ve got to make.”

It was the second time Snedeker went into a Masters Sunday with a chance to win. In 2008, he was in second place after three rounds, but shot a 5-over-par 77 on Sunday to finish tied for third.

“I’m not as crushed as I was in 2008,” he said, “because I know I’m going to be there again. I know this golf course so well and I putted about as poorly as I could and I still had a chance on the back nine. I’m very disappointed that I didn’t win, but I realize that I’m not far off from winning this thing. I’m going to do it soon.”