Brandt Snedeker

December 17th, 2007

Brandt Snedeker is not only a difficult name to pronounce, but it’s not a name I’ve ever heard of before. But today, he deserves to be applauded, because he stared a whole bunch of money, career development and possibly a really great kick start to getting a little bit of fame, but instead knocked it back for the sake of sportsmanship and honesty.

Snedeker will be able to look himself in the mirror the morning and see an honest man. Golf is the only game of self- regulation and yesterday on the 14th hole he called a penalty on himself for something no one else saw. Had he said nothing, he would have shot 11-under and gone into a play-off with Parry.

The American was in the rough just short of the green on the 510-metre par five, and removed a leaf from behind his ball prior to playing his shot. The ball moved ever so slightly, and Snedeker immediately conferred with O’Hern, his playing partner, and a rules official then confirmed the one-shot penalty. It resulted in a bogey six on the hole. (The Age)

So today, I wanted to applaud Brandt Snedeker - difficult name to say, and might never hear from him again, but he chose to take the high road.

(Edit - Oh yeah, this is about golf, in case that made NO sense at all. The Australian Open, specifically)