PALM HARBOR, Fla. — The playing opportunities are likely to be rare for Brandt Snedeker in 2026, so taking advantage of them is the frustrating goal he’s been pursuing without much success to date.
The nine-time PGA Tour winner who underwent an operation on his sternum four years ago has struggled to regain the form of earlier days and had missed all four cuts so far in limited chances this year.
That is what made an opening-round 65 at the Valspar Championship on Thursday a welcome result along with some validation for a recent putter change.
“Just a really good game plan coming into today,” Snedeker said. “A golf course I know really well. Playing perfect the way we want to see it play, firm and fast. Got some rough out there. Had a really good game plan, just relied on my putter. I putted great today, made a bunch of footage of putts, and put myself in position off the tee, hit a lot of fairways and greens and made it stress-free which was nice. So really excited about how it started, but a long way to go from here.”
Snedeker trailed early leader Sungjae Im by a stroke after a 65 on the Copperhead course that saw him make six birdies and no bogeys including a back-nine 30.
He made 148 feet of putts after hitting 14 of 18 greens in regulation to get off to the good start that has been missing so far this year.
Snedeker, who last year finished 126th in FedEx Cup points, missed the cut at the American Express, Farmers Insurance Open, Cognizant Classic and Puerto Rico Open. He needed sponsor invites for the Farmers and Valspar, where he’s played 14 times previously.
The last few years have been a struggle for Snedeker, 45, who in late 2022 had an experimental surgery due to a rare condition called manubrium joint instability that is normally associated with a person whose been in a severe car crash.
The malady impacted him over time, Snedeker said, and it finally got to the point that he insisted on having the surgery, despite the objections of his surgeon, Dr. Burton Elrod in Nashville, Tenn.
“Should have done it a long time ago,” Snedeker said. “It’s hard to chalk up, you never want to have to talk a doctor into doing a surgery, but I had to do that. It was a really experimental one, but my quality of life was not good, and if I wanted to play out here, I needed to have finality one way or the other.
“Needed to have the surgery and have it work or not work and I could move on. So obviously looking back on it, it was a great decision, I just wish I had done it a little earlier.”
The surgery, in essence, involved breaking his sternum and reattaching it which meant months of inactivity. It was more than five months before he could hit balls and Snedeker returned that spring.
His results have been sporadic since as he made just seven cuts in 2024 and last year he made 13 in 25 starts. His priority ranking of 126 means he won’t be able to get into all regular events, thus the need for some sponsor invites.
Still, he feels as though he’s in a far better position to be competitive than he was several years ago as his issues worsened.
“I don’t have any pain or anything like that,” Snedeker said. “I’ve lost some mobility just because of that. My chest is not able to do the things it used to be able to do, so my rotation’s a little limited. But when it comes to practice or pain-wise or anything like that, I’m actually relatively well. I’m way better now than I was before the surgery, I just have lost a little bit of mobility. But that’s going to happen when you get 45 years old out here.”
Inside the putter switch that turned Snedeker's game around
Always known as a good putter, Snedeker—who is this year’s U.S. Presidents Cup captain—said he made a switch a few weeks ago because he wasn’t satisfied with his play on the greens.
Knowing that he sacrifices length off the tee, Snedeker feels he has to make up ground on the greens.
That’s why he made a move to a mallet putter as so many others have done.
“Just wasn't putting up to my standard,” he said. “So when I don’t do that—I’ve got obviously shorter out here as I got older, if I’m not putting good, it’s going to be really hard for me to compete against these guys. So really refocused on what I do well. My short game’s better this year. My swing’s actually the best it's probably been in three, four years. Just kind of piecing everything together.
“Not trying to beat myself up too much and realize that things are trending the right direction. And just kind of, for whatever reason, didn't finish—start the year right, and so nice to see a round like that today come together.”
As for the putter switch?
“I’m a big stats guy, you start seeing all of the guys out here using mallets, they’re putting really, really well,” Snedeker said. “If you’re not paying attention to that you’re doing yourself a disservice. So I thought I would make a change and see if there’s something to it. And I changed in Puerto Rico a couple weeks ago and putted really well, just nothing wanted to go in.
“So I decided to stick with it. Today was a great putting round. I feel like inside six, eight feet I’m way better with it, it is way more consistent for me. And then the one thing that’s been lacking is making some long putts, and today a few of those went in, which was nice.”
More Golf from Sports Illustrated
- The Bushnell Tour V7 Shift Rangefinder Sets a New Standard
- TPC Sawgrass Should Host a Ryder Cup
- Away From the Bright Vegas Lights, Mesquite Offers an Alternative Nevada Getaway
- Is TGL Causing Injuries? Players Push Back on ‘Preposterous’ Theory
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Brandt Snedeker Turns Back the Clock With Opening 65 at Valspar Championship.
