AUGUSTA — Brandt Snedeker has taken that walk up the 18th fairway with a Masters Tournament champion. Today, he fully expects to be the one slipping on a green jacket, not his playing partner.
Snedeker, who struggled while playing in the final pairing of the 2008 Masters with winner Trevor Immelman, said he had “no clue” what he was doing then. He does now.
“It’s what I’ve worked my whole life for tomorrow,” said Snedeker, who has won twice in the past six-plus months, including a victory in the Tour Championship, where he picked up a $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.
“I’ve spent 32 years of my life getting ready for tomorrow, and it’s all been a learning process and I am completely, 100 percent sure that I’m ready to handle no matter what happens tomorrow,” he said.
Snedeker shot 3-under-par 69 on Saturday to reach 7-under-par 209. Minutes later, 2009 Masters champion Angel Cabrera rolled in a birdie on the 18th hole to tie him, matching Snedeker’s 69.
Snedeker and Cabrera will go off in the final pairing today at 2:40 p.m.
Snedeker, who closed with 77 in the 2008 Masters and tied for third place, couldn’t have been much bolder in his postround remarks about his expectations for today.
“I’m going to be disappointed if I don’t win, period,” he said. “I’m not here to get a good finish. I’m not here to finish top five. I’m here to win and that’s all I’m going to be focused on tomorrow. I realize what I have to do to do that and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that that happens.”
To do that, the former Vanderbilt star and will have to fight off a savvy former Masters champion from Argentina and a trio of Australians who will be trying to bring their homeland its first Masters title.
Cabrera has already proven he can win at Augusta National, beating Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell in a sudden-death playoff four years ago. Cabrera also won the U.S. Open in 2007.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment, and I can’t let the opportunity go to waste,” said Cabrera, who at age 43 is 11 years older than Snedeker. “To win two green jackets, I’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity.”
The Australian trio giving Snedeker and Cabrera chase is led by Adam Scott, who shot 69 and is one shot off the lead.
Jason Day, who shared second place in the 2011 Masters with Scott, is tied for fourth place, two shots off the lead, with Marc Leishman, another Aussie. Day shot 73 and Leishman, who is trying to become only the second player since 1984 to win after being the first-round leader or co-leader, had 72.
In all, 11 players are within five shots of the lead, including four-time champion Tiger Woods, who is four shots back after shooting 70. Woods would be two shots back if not for the two-stroke penalty he incurred Saturday morning for an illegal drop on the 15th hole Friday.
Cabrera has not won on the PGA Tour since the 2009 Masters. However, he won the Open de Argentina in mid-December on the strength of a final-round 64.
Cabrera has been around the lead all week. He opened with 71 and was five shots back. His second-round 69 moved him two shots off the lead and now he’s tied at the top.
“I think it was a great round, trying to shoot under par and to be in position for tomorrow,” he said of his Saturday round.
Cabrera was the leader through 10 holes Saturday at 3-under for the round. He bogeyed No. 12 and No. 13 with a three-putt — his first of the tournament. But he came back with birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 to gain a share of the lead.
Snedeker, who has five bogeys and a double bogey all week to go with 14 birdies, has been preaching patience this week, and it has worked.
“This is a golf course baiting you to make a mistake; you’ve got to pick your spots,” Snedeker said. “It wants you to go after pins you shouldn’t go after. Patience was obviously the word of the week every week. Y’all get tired of hearing it, but I can’t underscore how important that is around this place.”
Cabrera agreed with that assessment.
“Tomorrow it’s more about execution and about patience,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a big advantage that I’ve won before. It’s more about patience.”
Snedeker’s shotmaking has been even better than his considerable putting prowess this week. He ranks fourth in both fairways hit (34 of 42) and greens in regulation (39 of 54). In putting, he’s tied for 14th with 86 putts. He had 27 on Thursday, 28 on Friday and 31 on Saturday.
Scott, who hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation Saturday, would be the first player to win the Masters with a long putter. He would also like to erase the bad taste of last year’s British Open, where he faltered down the stretch and lost to Ernie Els.
“It’s going to take a great round tomorrow,” Scott said. “There are too many great players right there. I know someone else is going to play well, so I’m going to need to really have a career round.”
Day started the round the same way as Snedeker, with 12 consecutive pars, then went the other way. While Snedeker played 3-under the rest of the round, Day was 1-over with a birdie on No. 13 and closing bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18, where he 3-putted both greens.
“Obviously I would love to have the lead, but I’m a couple back for tomorrow’s round and now’s a good opportunity to go out there tomorrow and obviously try and win my first major,” Day said.
Australians have won 15 major championships, but never the Masters.
“It’s a great opportunity for all of us to be the first,” Day said. “There’s been some great, so many Aussies in the past that have had an opportunity to win the Masters and fell short a little bit. So if it happens tomorrow, that’s great. If it doesn’t, then we’re going to keep plugging away.”
“Aussies are proud sporting people, and we’d love to put another notch in our belt, just like any great sporting country,” Scott said.
Saturday’s round, which featured just seven rounds in the 60s and only six eagles, is expected to be the quiet before the storm. Since 2009, tournament officials have set up the final round at Augusta National hoping for a shootout, and the players have obliged.
“It was very quiet day out there,” Snedeker said of Saturday’s round. “I didn’t hear a lot of roars.”