The secret to reading grain, according to one of the Tour's best putters
To preserve his sanity and his score, Brandt Snedeker has learned to deal with grain by thinking more about pace than break.
Brandt Snedeker honed his distinctive putting stroke on grainy greens. Getty Images The setting was New Orleans but it could have been the Borscht Belt when Keith Mitchell and Brandt Snedeker took to the podium on Tuesday in advance of this week’s Zurich Classic. Partners in the team event at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, the two veteran Tour pros and close friends paired up in what amounted to a slapstick routine, smiling as they fielded questions while ribbing each other about their games.
The gist their jokes: Mitchell can’t putt, and Snedeker can’t keep it on the planet with his driver. “We’re close enough to where we’re not going to offend each other this week,” Snedeker said. “We can’t hurt each other’s feelings.
” But because things are only funny until someone three-jacks, the conversation took a more earnest turn when Snedeker was asked about a serious topic: grain . Ah, yes, grain. The hobgoblin of golfers on the Southern Swing, blamed for every lip-out and poor lag putt from Florida to Louisiana and beyond.
Or so you’d think when you tune into TV coverage of PGA Tour events. “Was it the grain that got him, Johnny? ” (Or Bones.