A month after an 84 in Australia, Brandt Snedeker smiling again at Kapalua

Brandt Snedeker ( Getty Images )

FROM GOLFWEEK.COM

By Jim McCabe

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Enveloped in pulsating sunshine, with majestic views of Lanai and Molokai as a backdrop, Brandt Snedeker’s perpetual smile was even wider and brighter.
For good reason, too. He’s back at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions for the fourth time.
So it didn’t appear to be the time to spoil his day in paradise, but there was that round in Australia one month ago that seemed so out of character, and so ... well, what the heck happened?
Snedeker being Snedeker, he laughed softly and shook his head. “The worst round of professional golf I’ve ever played,” he said of that first-round 84 at the Australian PGA. “Everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. It was awful.”
The round featured back-to-back 7s on his inward nine, one a double bogey, the other a triple bogey. And yes, it was made worse by the fact that he had flown halfway around the world to play in Australia, where he loves the golf.
“I wasn’t hurt. It was tough conditions, but not 84 tough,” he said. “And I felt ready to play, too. I wanted to play well. I shot 66 in a practice round.”
His trip Down Under cut to just 36 holes, Snedeker was so upset with his play that he called swing coach Butch Harmon and went straight from Australia to Las Vegas. “It turned out to be a good thing for me. I saw Butch, worked on my ball-striking, and, as it always is, it was a simple thing,” he said.
Taking the fix to Florida, Snedeker, 35, teamed with Jason Dufner to win the Franklin Templeton Shootout. “Silly Season” stuff that it might have been, it was affirmation that Snedeker had righted the ship after running aground in Australia, and the Hyundai couldn’t come at a better time.
He’s ready, he’s excited, and he’s on a stage, the Plantation Course, on which he feels comfortable. Finishing T-10, third, and T-11 in his previous three trips is proof of that.
Then again, isn’t the Hyundai played in January, that time of year when Snedeker seems to always be on top of his game?
Indeed, it is, and in coming weeks he’ll play several venues that have always treated him well. At Torrey Pines he has a win, a second, a third, and a ninth; at Pebble Beach he has two wins; at TPC Scottsdale there have been four top 10s.
“I can’t explain it. I’ve tried, but I can’t,” Snedeker said with a laugh, when asked why it is that he plays so well in the early months. Not that he hasn’t fared well late in the year — he did roar to victory in the Tour Championship and take the FedEx Cup in 2012 — but clearly Snedeker has annually been sharp in these winter months.
And after a quick tune-up to Harmon, Snedeker is anxious to continue that trend.

 Jim Furyk's  wrist injury keeping him on 

sidelines indefinitely

Jim Furyk is one of four no-shows at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions this week. But unlike Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose, Furyk is unsure about when or where he will start his 2016 campaign.
The 17-time US PGA Tour winner hasn’t played competitively since a bone contusion on his left wrist forced him to withdraw during the first round of the BMW Championship in September.
At the time, Furyk decided to withdraw after playing just six holes so that he would be ready to play in the Presidents Cup in South Korea three weeks later. But Furyk couldn’t hit a ball at home and instead became a late pick as an assistant captain for the ultimately victorious American side.
Furyk has undergone numerous MRIs and seen different doctors who have provided the same diagnosis.
“Sometimes it can be tricky,” Furyk said via phone from his home in Florida. “I thought it would be healed by now, but the doctors did say it can take a while.”
In hopes of being able to play this week, Furyk tried hitting balls in early- to mid-December. Though never in pain, he said he also was never close to 100 percent and didn’t think his wrist was strong enough to continue.
Because of previous injuries, Furyk, 45, also knows that coming back too soon never has been good for him and generally hasn't worked for others, with one exception: Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
“Its hard to compete on our Tour 70 or 80 or 90 percent," Furyk said. “I’m not ready, and I’m not 100 percent.”
There are no treatments or drugs that Furyk can receive aside from taking anti-inflammatory medicine.
One bright spot for Furyk is that he generally rests during the fall and most of the winter. With the exception of the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup and Tiger’s Woods year-end event, Furyk usually ends his season at the Tour Championship in September and starts back up at the AT and T Pebble Beach Pro –Am in early February.
That makes this time off to recover feel more like a normal break.
The plan going forward for Furyk is to play at Pebble Beach in five weeks and then the Northern Trust Open and then be ready to compete at 100 percent when the Florida Swing starts in late February.
“I think I have some goals where I’d like to be at two weeks and at four weeks and when I get on the plane,” Furyk said of his timetable to play at Pebble Beach. “But right now it's more a frustrating, wait-and-see-type thing.”