ATLANTA – When Brandt Snedeker won his first tournament in 2006 on what is now known as the Korn Ferry Tour, he confessed to a rare moment of indiscretion.
Snedeker, who won the U.S. Amateur Public Links in 2003 and earned an invite to the Masters the following year, stole a white robe from Augusta National, which he kept hung in his closet.
“Everybody who goes to Augusta steals a bathrobe,” Snedeker said after he beat former U.S. Amateur champion Jeff Quinney with a birdie on the second playoff hole.
That purloined robe didn’t stop Snedeker from being named the 2024 recipient of the PGA Tour’s Payne Stewart Award presented by Southern Company, which was to be presented on Tuesday night. The award is presented annually to a professional golfer who best exemplifies Stewart’s steadfast values of character, charity and sportsmanship.
“It’s something I kind of early on in my career, I kind of circled as something I’d like to accomplish out here,” he said. “I went to it every year I played the Tour Championship and just saw these heroes, icons of mine kind of breaking down on stage and going through what they’ve given back in their communities and kind of reinforce what the Tour’s all about.”
And let’s not kid ourselves: Stewart probably had a Masters robe in his closet too. But Snedeker always conducted himself the right way, including during his rookie year when he played his way into the final group of the Australian Open and had a chance to win.
“I was in the rough on the 16th hole and the ball moved. I knew it moved, my caddie saw it move. I remember telling my caddie, I said, ‘Did you see that?’ He goes, ‘No, I did not see that.’ I was like, ‘No, it moved.’ He was like, ‘Dang it.’ I called it, ended up losing by a shot, called a penalty on myself,” Snedeker recalled. “I’m a big believer in karma. I don’t want any bad karma on my side, so I’ve always tried to play by the rules and do stuff the right way and try to help people understand that’s the way we play golf out here.”
“If Payne Stewart was still alive, he and Brandt would’ve gotten along,” Billy Horschel said. “People like to be around Sneds and to play with Sneds. They’re both competitors and grinders and give it all they’ve got.”
Brandt Snedeker victorious with FedEx Cup trophy (L) and tournament trophy (R) after winning on Sunday at East Lake GC. Atlanta, GA 9/23/2012 (Photo by Fred Vuich /Sports…
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