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That tarpon he caught several years ago in the Florida Keys was a fighter. In fact, Brandt Snedeker battled the 120-pound fish for nearly an hour before he was able to bring it to the boat. Tarpon are known for their endurance, bullheadedness and spectacular leaping ability, and this fish had it all. “(We) had to pull up the anchor and chase it because those things are so big and so strong,” Snedeker says. So how tired was he after he reeled the fish in? Let’s just say Snedeker’s arms and shoulders were so sore he wasn’t going to hit the practice range anytime soon. “It’s funny, they’re so hard to catch that when you get one, you go, I want to try to catch another one but your arms are so gassed you just can’t do it,” Snedeker says. “But it’s fun.” Snedeker’s wife’s uncle is a fishing captain in Islamorada and he takes the family there at least once a year. He’s also gone tuna and sail fishing out in the Gulf of Mexico, and if the weather isn’t good they’ll head inshore to look for snook and sea trout and Spanish mackerel. “You name it, we’ll catch it,” Snedeker says. “It’s a lot of fun to get out there. It’s kind of hard not to be happy in the Keys when the weather’s perfect down there and it’s terrible everywhere else — you know?” Like many people, Snedeker fell in love with fishing when he was a kid. His family was on vacation in Venice, Florida, and they took a boat out into the Gulf. The 12-year-old got the bug – even though he got seasick, too.  “It was awful,” Snedeker says, grinning at the memory. “Six-hour deal and I threw up the whole time and they didn’t cut it short; we had other people on the trip with us. So I had to tough it out. “It was funny, it wasn’t going (out), it was just sitting still, the constant rocking. That’s what got me. .. It is the worst feeling in the world.” A little Dramamine now, though, just in case, and Snedeker is good to go. Snedeker also loves to fish for bass, and he’s gone fly fishing a couple of times, although he admits he’s not very good at that yet. Sometimes he even finds a river when he’s on the road and fishes before that week’s PGA TOUR event starts. Just as was the case when he was a kid, Snedeker’s kids, Lily and Austin, like to go fishing with their dad. He has some property with a pond that is stocked with bass and bluegill and catfish about an hour  — “not close, but close enough,â€� Snedeker says — from their home in Nashville, Tennessee. “They’ve even gotten to the point now where they’re big enough we can cook one and eat them if we catch them,â€� he says. “… The kids love it. I’m pretty much being their guide and just kind of do anything for them. “I’ll have fun and they get excited about what they catch and it’s a really, really cool moment for us as a family to spend the time doing that.â€� While Snedeker does most of his fishing in the Nashville area or down in the Florida Keys, he has also fished in New Zealand and tries to squeeze in a trip to Hawaii each year. Costa Rica, known for its sailfish and marlin, is another place on his must-do list, along with Cabo San Lucas. As much as Snedeker enjoys battling game fish like that 120-pound tarpon, he also enjoys just being on the water and “shutting your brain off for a little while.â€� He says he could fish for 10 hours without catching something and still have a wonderful day. “As I’ve grown up and my life’s gotten way more hectic, it’s a way to slow everything down and just get back to kind of just being me as a dad or me as a husband or me getting out on my own and hitting the reset button,â€� Snedeker says. “People deal with things differently. You read books, people go on vacations. If I can go fishing for three or four hours, I feel like a new guy.â€�  

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There have been high-profile withdrawals before a shot is struck. There are big prizes on the line, aside from just those three medals. Here is the full primer to get you set for the 60-player event.

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