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Brandt Snedeker Returns to RSM Classic after Three Month Absence

By Kathlene Bissell

ST SIMONS ISLAND, GA - NOVEMBER 19: Brandt Snedeker lines up a putt on the 4th hole on the Plantation Course during the first round of The RSM Classic on November 19, 2015 in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
ST SIMONS ISLAND, GA - NOVEMBER 19: Brandt Snedeker lines up a putt on the 4th hole on the Plantation Course during the first round of The RSM Classic on November 19, 2015 in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) /
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Brandt Snedeker returns to action this week at the RSM Classic, but there are still some lingering health questions left to answer.

“Semi-retirement’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Brandt Snedeker said at the RSM Classic, where he is returning after a 14-week absence from the PGA Tour.  “I’m probably the most excited guy in the field this week to be playing again.”

He was so enthusiastic that he arrived early and practiced on Monday which no one does unless it’s a major championship week.  Snedeker has been sidelined with injuries to his ribs in the past, but this is a different kind of injury.

“What happens with this injury that I have, it’s not a one swing kind of deal, it’s the repetitive nature of what I do, the constant buildup of shot after shot after shot,” he explained. “It literally felt like my sternum was cracked or broken, so couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything if I went and practiced for an hour. But if I go hit a ball and wait 10 minutes, I was okay.”

Nobody can play golf like that.  While every member of the PGA Tour looks like he fell out of bed with a great golf swing, they have all practiced countless hours to get where they are.  They can’t not practice and expect to be competitive. As Tiger always says, it’s about the reps.

This week is an experiment for Snedeker.  If he is unable to play the full week, then he may have to consider surgery.

“It’s one of those things you don’t want to go down that road if you don’t have to,” he noted.

Snedeker did test it out before entering the RSM by playing 25 holes, three days in a row, using a cart, but as he explained, it is not the same as having to hit a shot out of longish Bermuda rough or getting a plugged lie in a bunker.  So, this week is an experiment he hopes will allow him to play golf again without the surgical option.

Uncertain diagnosis led to an extended absence for Snedeker

Part of the problem is that his injury was also a complicated diagnosis.  Snedeker saw more than two dozen doctors trying to figure out what was happening and how to fix it.

Brandt Snedeker RMS Classic
(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

“They’d never really run into this kind of injury without a blunt force trauma to cause it,” he said, adding that there was a lot of uncertainty in what could be done short of surgery. “It’s just tough when you don’t have any real idea of how you’re going to fix it and how you’re going to go about it.”

In the past with injuries, Snedeker said he had always been given a time when he could start hitting balls and a time when he could start playing.  This time around all they could tell him was to wait and see if it got better. Now they are letting him test it out.

“They’ve had it in football players when they land on a football or they get hit in the chest,” he explained about others who have had similar kinds of injuries. ‘They can inject it and get through the season, and you give them six weeks off, they’re fine.”

“No gut, more glory” for Snedeker with enhanced diet

In addition to taking a break from golf, he’s changed his diet to include anti-inflammatory foods.

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“Any kind of inflammation I get from my diet will go straight to my sternum and cause more pain. So no sugar, no carbs, nothing that causes any inflammation in your body whatsoever,” he explained. “As a guy who likes to eat food and likes to have fun, this has not been a great change, but something I’ve got to do if I want to be out here for a long period of time.”

He can’t have french fries, for instance, which he misses.  In fact, all potatoes are off-limits.  Raw veggies like broccoli and celery are on the OK list. After six weeks, he said he has kind of gotten used to it.

He and his swing coach, John Tillery, are also working on ways to adjust his swing to take pressure off his chest area.

As far as this week goes, the only thing he is worried about is having some weird force hitting his chest and seeing if he can handle it.

Next: RMS Classic Power Rankings

“That’s kind of the point why the doctors wanted me to play this week is we need to find out if what we’ve done has worked or if we need to do something different,” Snedeker added.

He is hoping for the best.

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