Since Sunday afternoon, just about every golfer I have come into contact with brings up and asks me about Snedeker's 4 Putt on the 72nd hole of the BMW Championship. Heck, Monday I went to lunch with my wife, Susan and my brother, Ken and the first thing Ken asks me is if I had seen Snedeker's 4 putt.
I had not yet, but he and Susan had, so I asked each of them to describe it to me. What I was looking for was did he just recklessly or angrily slap at it or stab it. Both agreed that he was calm, though maybe not collected, and made a reasonable and calm attempt to stroke it in. I have since seen the putt and commentary about it on The Golf Channel (TGC) Golf Central show and agree that Brandt did not recklessly slap at it in disgust or anger. Maybe careless as he walked over and stroked it in a poor setup with his left foot down, his right big toe only touching the ground and he was reaching in and stretching when he stroked it. No setup and in poor balance = poor stroke even for a tap in. I will even throw in that he looked like he was aware of, and walked around, Tiger's line for his winning putt, which caused the stretch and poor balance stance to not stand in Tiger's line.
The big to do about this 4 putt is twofold. For one, it is because of what it cost Brandt. He had asked Roger Maltbie in the fairway what score he needed to stay in the 30th spot and qualify for the Tour Championship, the 4th and final playoff for the FedEx cup. He knew that 2 putts for bogey from around 12 feet and he was in the field at East Lake in Atlanta. Making this field had bonus money for the FedEx cup and a guaranteed payday for making the Tour Championship, which is estimated to be worth around $300,000.00 for last place. Pretty good payday for finishing last. And then, let's not forget about the bigger picture for next year. He would be exempt for the Masters, US Open and British Open and a lot more.
The second issue is really the bigger one of the two. It was the composed and correct manner in which he handled himself after the meltdown. After gathering himself together, he answered questions with the media. The report on Golf Central stated that he signed autographs while speaking to the reporters. He is, as the old saying goes, 'killed two birds with one stone.' I call it making great use of time management. Either way, he was a quality first class PGA Tour golfer and more importantly a gentleman and outstanding role model on how to handle adversity, defeat, disappointment and I guess we can throw in embarrassment. After all 4 putting is never good except that it is better than 5 whacking it. And 4 putting on the 72nd hole with the audience he was playing in front of in the last group, playing with Tiger, and for what was at stake for him quite raises the importance and discussion level of it.
Brandt stated in his interview that he missed the putt as a “flip out yip.' He further said, 'I should have tried to make par. It is just one of those things where it is 100% mental. It's nothing physical, it's 100% mental. So, I'll work on it and hopefully be stronger next year.' Well said, and bravos to Brandt for the way he handled it and accepted it and is using it to look forward and turn this into making himself a better golfer.
Can we learn anything from this? Certainly! First and foremost Brandt showed us how to handle a tough situation in the toughest place, with really big downside in lost earnings and important issues for this year and next in the exemptions he also lost.
The second is, never hit even tap in putts without being in a good balanced putting setup. That means both feel flat on he ground and setup in your normal putting stance to make your normal putting stroke. Since my number one mantra regarding setup is, 'The setup determines the motion,' I have to disagree with him when he said it was 100% mental and nothing physical. It was physical as he was in poor balance with only his right foot flat on the ground and tip toe only touching the ground, as I described above, in the stretched out and reaching of his arms to stroke the putt. He was nowhere close to his normal putting setup and he suffered the consequences of that careless setup and stroke. And unfortunately, it was very costly in earnings and exemptions lost. I promise you he will remember it, especially because of the fact it was such a big mistake with big consequences.
He will also remember it as we will because it brought out and showed the sporting world the utmost class and manner to accept disappointment and defeat and embarrassment on the big stage of a professional sporting event. It showed the world of golf and sports the true meaning of sportsmanship and who Brandt Snedeker really is: A gentleman and a super good sport and a great role model.
The Surge!