PGA Tour Championship, Atlanta, USA - Date: 20-23 September 2012 Final leader board -10: B Snedeker (US)-7: J Rose (Eng)-6: L Donald (Eng), R Moore (US)-5: W Simpson (US), B Watson (US) Selected others: -2 T Woods (US), -1 McIlroy (NI), +15 L Westwood (Eng) Brandt Snedeker held his nerve to comfortably win the PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta, and with it the FedEx Cup jackpot of $10m (�6.15m). Snedeker, 32, shared the overnight lead with England's Justin Rose, and shot a two-under-par 68 for 10 under overall. Rose (71) holed a long putt on the 18th for second, three shots behind, with compatriot Luke Donald (67) tied-third. Snedeker was recently named as a USA wildcard pick for the Ryder Cup which starts on Friday at Medinah, Illinois. The American, who led this year's Open at the halfway mark before eventually taking a share of third place, was one of five players - along with Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and US trio Tiger Woods, Nick Watney and Phil Mickelson - who knew that victory in Atlanta could be enough to also win the FedEx Cup. Snedeker's dreams were only briefly threatened during the final round, when he found the lake at the sixth hole, resulting in a double bogey. But superb putts from 40 feet and 18 feet respectively at the eighth and 13th enhanced his reputation as one of the Tour's finest on the greens - he missed only one putt from inside eight feet all week. And victory was all but sealed when he chipped in from just off the 17th green for birdie. He said: "I had complete confidence in what I was doing. I don't know where it came from, but I hope to rekindle it in the future." After 11 successive rounds in the 60s, McIlroy - who won the Tour's two previous play-off events and took a decent lead into the PGA Tour Championship - closed with a 74 for a share of 10th place on one under. He still won a $3m bonus for finishing the season in second place however, with Woods picking up $2m for third. |
