Arandt Snedeker (born December 8, 1980) American
professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
Snedeker was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He
attended Montgomery Bell Academy and then Vanderbilt
University, where he was a member of the Chi Chapter
of the Kappa Alpha Order. He won the U.S. Amateur
Public Links in 2003 before turning professional. He
played on the Nationwide Tour from 2004 until 2006,
when he finished in the top 10 of the tour money
list after victories at the Showdown at Somerby and
the Permian Basin Charity Golf Classic, thus earning
a PGA Tour spot for 2007. At the 2008 Masters,
Snedeker finished four strokes under par to finish
tied for 3rd place.
Snedeker garnered immediate attention in January
after shooting a course record equaling 61 in the
first round of the Buick Invitational. He led the
tournament by three strokes after 36 holes but due
to a 74 in the third round he finished in third
place. He made eight consecutive cuts starting at
the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in January and ending
at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. In that
span he recorded three top 25 finishes. Snedeker did
not play as well as he hoped in the month of April.
In four tournaments in April, he made two cuts
including a finish of T16 at the Verizon Heritage.
From May to early June Snedeker made the cut in two
of the four tournaments he entered. This included an
impressive T12 finish at the prestigious PLAYERS
Championship. Snedeker would then go on a hot streak
starting at the Stanford St. Jude Championship on
June 10. He finished in a tie for fifth at that
tournament and by doing so surpassed $1 million in
earnings on tour in 2007. He finished in a tie for
23rd at the U.S. Open the following week. He
recorded two top ten finishes in early July
including a tie for 10th at the Buick Open. This
finish put Snedeker into the top 100 of the Official
World Golf Rankings for the first time. Later in
July he finished in a tie for 7th at the Canadian
Open. Two weeks after the Canadian, Snedeker played
in the PGA Championship for the first time. Snedeker
finished in an impressive tie for 18th place.
Snedeker picked up his first PGA Tour victory the
next week at the Wyndham Championship in North
Carolina. This win propelled him to a world ranking
of 55th. The Wyndham Championship was the last
regular season event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Snedeker entered the playoffs in 9th place in the
point standings. He played in all four playoff
events. He recorded finishes of missed cut, T47, T14
and T29. Snedeker finished in 20th place in the
final points standings and that earned him a bonus
check of $225,000. Due to his great performance on
tour he was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year
for 2007.
Snedeker entered 29 PGA Tour events in 2007. He made
23 cuts including one win, a third place finish, six
top ten finishes and thirteen top 25 finishes. He
earned $2,836,643 which put him in 17th on the final
money list. Snedeker will be exempt for every PGA
Tour tournament in 2008, and finished 2007 ranked
47th in the world rankings.
