Tiger’s Loss to Snedeker Leaves Him in Must-Win Situation to Advance in Match Play
Steve DiMeglio, author for Golfweek
AUSTIN, Texas – Brandt Snedeker became Public Enemy No. 1 in Texas.
Snedeker toppled Tiger Woods, 2 and 1, in Thursday’s second round of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, putting Woods in a must-win situation in the final round of pool play Friday if he is to advance to the elimination rounds.
“I said I’m probably the most hated man in Texas right now for a few holes,” said Snedeker, who had never posted a better score than Woods in 13 previous stroke-play rounds on the PGA Tour. “I bet you my kids were probably rooting for him late in the round.
“I played really well. He played pretty solidly. We both gave each other a hole, hitting one in the water off the tee. Neither one of us seemed to make any putts. We had a bunch of 15- to 20-footers, which was about as close as we were going to hit it today just because of the wind and how tough it was. It felt like it was a slow match in that sense. Nobody was really getting any momentum going.”
Snedeker, who never trailed in the match, seized momentum with a 9-foot birdie to go 2 up on the 16th, and a par on the par-3 17th ended the match.
Woods didn’t meet with the media afterward but spoke with a PGA Tour official.
“It was difficult conditions out there today,” Woods said. “The wind was pumping and if you went around there with no bogeys, you probably would win your fair share of holes. We both made a couple of mistakes out there, but he made a few less mistakes than I did.”…
