Brandt Snedeker's Hot Streak Continues, Records First Victory of 2013

After consecutive weeks fin ishing in second place behind two of the biggest names in golf (Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, respectively), Brandt Snedeker was finally able to notch his first victory of 2013 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Snedeker was in control for most of the tournament, shooting four under par in each of his first three rounds. He was tied with James Hahn to start the fourth round, but Snedeker’s final round started out on a high note with an eagle on the second hole. He never looked back. After that point, the closest contender was Chris Kirk, who kept hanging around but never got closer than two shots off of Snedeker’s pace.

With the aggressive way that Snedeker was playing on Sunday, you never would have guessed that he was in the lead. On several occasions, he hit very firm putts that just missed the hole, while other golfers in his position would have played it safe and ended up a few feet short. That could very well be part of the explanation as to why Snedeker never relinquished his lead.

This outcome shouldn’t surprise anyone. Snedeker has been playing lights out golf for the better part of the last month. The only reason that he didn’t record a win before Pebble Beach was the fact that he ran into Woods and Mickelson in consecutive weeks and they were both playing at the top of their respective games. Finishing in second place to those two in succession is nothing to sneeze at. Snedeker couldn’t have played much better, but there just wasn’t anything that he could to catch those two. Not pulling out a victory was more about what Woods and Mickelson were able to do as opposed to what Snedeker failed to do.

At this point it’s evident that Snedeker was able to carry his momentum from the end of the 2012 season, including his victory at the TOUR Championship, to the beginning of this year. This victory will strengthen his lead in the 2013 FedEx Cup standings. With his accuracy and distance off of the tee and his touch on the greens, there’s a good chance he will be a contender for the FedEx Cup once again.

Carl Conrad is the Golf Network Manager for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter or add him to your network on Google.