PGA event integrates BetMGM odds on telecast

Mandy Snedeker had just dropped her two children, Lily and Austin, off at school near their home in Nashville. Her husband, Brandt, was in Greensboro, North Carolina, playing in the Wyndham Championship. He was in one of the morning’s featured groups, paired with Billy Horschel and Hideki Matsuyama, so she could follow the PGA TOUR Live coverage of his round as she ran errands. “And then all of a sudden, I don’t know what hole it was, but they started mentioning that there was a chance that he could shoot 59,â€� Mandy recalls. “I kind of went, errrk, pulled over in a parking lot, and watched the rest of it.â€� Mandy sat in that parking lot for a good hour on that Thursday morning a year ago, watching the final four holes or so on her cell phone. So, she saw the 20-footer he made on the Sedgefield’s ninth hole, his last of the day, to become just the ninth player in PGA TOUR history to shoot a 59. “Oh, my gosh, I screamed and just went crazy,â€� Mandy says. And then her telephone started virtually blowing up with text messages. In relatively short order, she had probably 40 or 50; her husband’s phone pinged with roughly double that amount – all meaningful in their own way. “We have a lot of friends that are in the music industry … and obviously are huge golfers,â€� Mandy says. “So, they were all texting me. I thought that was cool. “I don’t know if I have anyone that (stood out); it was just so many at one time I couldn’t believe it because I wasn’t sure if everybody knew. It was a Thursday, Thursday morning. So, I was texting people all morning. Brandt shot 59. Brandt shot 59. It was crazy.â€� Of course, her first text was to Brandt. He was whisked away to interviews after he signed his scorecard but called as soon as he could. “He was so excited,â€� Mandy recalls. “You know, golf, it’s crazy. It’s like up and down and he hadn’t been playing that great. But out of nowhere he shoots 59. So, it’s just how the sport rolls.â€� Then came the hard part. At least for Brandt. Take that four-stroke lead he had accrued with the 59, play three more rounds and try to win a golf tournament.  “Fifty‑nine was such a cool moment and such a great place, has such a great place in my memory and the history of the game obviously, but doing it on Thursday when you’ve got three more days to deal with, A, all the questions, B, all the kind of attention you draw on yourself, and then most importantly, the expectations you have on yourself,â€� Brandt says.  “You have a … four‑shot lead after the first day, play that kind of round of golf, you can’t really think of anything other than messing it up from there, to be honest with you. So, it’s hard to kind of deal with that, try to get over it and make sure you get back into what made you successful that first day.â€� The internal pressure was one thing. After all, Brandt had already won eight times on the PGA TOUR. But the 2018 Wyndham Championship was the first time his kids, who were 7 and 5 years old at the time, really understood what was going on. “The second he (shot 59) it was, Dad are you going to win the tournament? Dad are you winning?â€� Mandy recalls with a smile. “We flew in Saturday; we go upstairs to the player dining. Dad, are you leading still? Dad are you leading? Are you going to win? I was like, oh my goodness. Stop. “So, we had joked if he can win with that pressure of the kids constantly reminding him, you know, he’s got it. He’s got it.â€� Steve Holmes, who is chairman of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Wyndham Destinations, had sent a private jet to Nashville to pick up Mandy and the kids. Wyndham has sponsored Brandt since shortly after he won the 2007 tournament at Sedgefield, which was his first PGA TOUR victory. Holmes was the one who presented Brandt with the Sam Snead Cup that year. “It just so happened he was coming up to New York for the first playoff event right afterwards and he offered me a ride up on his plane,â€� Brandt remembers. “And so, I hop on the plane. We celebrated and talked and just kind of grew from there and Steve’s one of the best human beings in the world. Spending that little time with them on a plane, I realized what a quality guy he was and what they stood for. “Just always have been very fortunate in my career, surround myself with really good people and make sure I have the right partnerships and it all started with him and them because they are a bunch of great people and do stuff the right way.â€� So, Brandt wasn’t at all surprised that Holmes flew Mandy and the kids in for what turned out to be another Sunday celebration with Lily and Austin racing onto the 18th green to jump into their dad’s arms. “They’ve been dear friends of ours for a long time,â€� Mandy says. “That’s what made it so special, too. It’s not just shooting the 59 … it was just like a storybook book setting. I mean, with it being Wyndham and his sponsor and just all the years that we’ve been with them and stuff. “So yeah, it was really special.â€�

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – We’re halfway through THE PLAYERS Championship and so far, pretty much everything has played out according to plan. Louis Oosthuizen and Kyle Stanley each shot 66 and are tied at the top at 9 under, (predictable), while J.B. Holmes, who isn’t sure TPC Sawgrass fits his left-to-right ball flight, shot 69 and is two back (of course). Vijay Singh, 54, was riding a streak of seven straight missed cuts on the PGA TOUR, but fired a 68 to reach 6 under par, three off the lead. (Nailed it.) And the strength of his game so far this week has been putting. (As usual.) “It was sad I three-putted the last hole,” said Singh, who has made more than 200 feet of putts in two days and ranks 16th in strokes gained: putting through 36 holes. “But that’s a strong part of my game right now. If I keep putting like that, I’m going to be right there on Sunday.” To say this edition of THE PLAYERS has been upside-down doesn’t quite cover it. Although THE PLAYERS Stadium Course traditionally plays no favorites and has thus been a hard place to predict the winner, this week’s doings have been even weirder than usual. “It’s nice to kind of see a lot of the work kind of come together,” said Stanley, who ranks sixth in the field in strokes-gained: putting. “But that being said, there’s a lot of golf left. Still got to be really patient. Can’t get too far ahead of yourself.” Three weeks ago, Singh partnered with Carlos Franco to win the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf on the PGA TOUR Champions. But he hasn’t won on TOUR in nine years, when he won twice in the Playoffs to claim the 2008 FedExCup. Stanley hasn’t been in this position for a while, either—he hasn’t won since the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open—but that just means they’re well-rested, right? Jordan Spieth shot a second-round 75 to miss the cut and afterward gave away one of his shoes to a little girl in the gallery. His play-of-the-day moment may have been when he found playing partner Phil Mickelson’s wayward tee shot at the par-4 10th hole. “The funny thing is I never find my own ball,” Spieth deadpanned to the gallery. “But I find Phil’s like that.” He snapped his fingers; the spectators laughed. “Although I’m not sure he wanted me to find it,” Spieth added. More laughter. Mickelson’s unpredictability is the stuff of legend, so he has fit right in this week. After not playing a practice round at the revamped Stadium Course, he climbed to within a shot of the lead with a 3-under 33 on the front nine Friday. The 2007 THE PLAYERS champ was back! Then he hit iron into the bushes left of the left fairway bunker on 10—leading to Spieth’s quip, and a bogey—and double-bogeyed the par-3 17th after his ball landed near the back pin but took a giant first hop and trundled over the bulkhead and into the water. “I don’t know what to say,” Mickelson said after his 72. “I played well today.” At least he had company: There were 29 balls in the water on 17 Friday, the most in a second round since 2003. And amid all the other oddities this week, playing well and scoring well have seldom looked more at odds. In fact, they seem to have begun a trial separation. Take Justin Thomas, who has made 10 birdies and an eagle so far. Pretty great, right? But Thomas is at even par after throwing in 10 bogeys and a double while shooting 73-71. “It seems like any time I got momentum I seemed to give it right back,” he said. Still, Thomas hardly is out of it. That’s the other upside-down thing about this PLAYERS and every PLAYERS. We think we know who’s on the fast track to winning, but we don’t. Just 12 of 43 second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the tournament. “If you make the cut here,” Thomas said, “you have a chance to win the tournament.” In other words, maybe the stars are not in as much trouble as it might seem. Defending champ Jason Day shot 72 and was at 2 under with Mickelson. Rory McIlroy, who revealed he has re-aggravated his back and will go in for an MRI on Monday, shot 71 and was at even. Dustin Johnson got nothing going and shot 73. He’s also at even par. Meanwhile, Luke List made the first eagle on the new par-4 12th hole, driving the green and sinking the putt from 14 feet, 9 inches. He shot 69. He missed the cut. At THE PLAYERS this year, great isn’t necessarily good, and mediocre isn’t all that bad, and the only sensible thing to do seems to be to reserve the right to withhold judgement. “It’s going to make us look pretty silly out there, a lot of spots,” Mickelson said of the Stadium Course’s firm greens. “But I hit a lot of good shots, including the one on 17 that went in the water. So, unfortunately, I made double there. But I’m in a good spot for tomorrow. I’ll come out tomorrow and see if I can shoot a number.” Stranger things have happened.

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