Playing La Quinta CC and beginning off 10 tee, World No. 195 Brandt Snedeker birdied his final three holes for a 7-under-par 32-33=65 in R1 of The American Express to sit T3, three adrift of clubhouse leader Lee Hodges (LQ).
The 41-year-old, who moves over to the Nicklaus Tournament Course for R2, arrived off a season-best T36 at last week’s Sony, where he was T5 at the midpoint (66-65-68-70). This is his 10th appearance, missing his last two cuts (2021, 2018), and owns a couple of top 10s, most recently a best of T8 in 2012, prior to the current set of courses being utilized. The Vanderbilt alum owns nine TOUR wins in 386 events, most recently the 2018 Wyndham, and claimed the 2016 (multi-course) Farmers in Southern California prior to that. Today, he outpaced three bogeys with an eagle-3 and eight birdies on 13 greens in regulation, posting a sterling 1.385 putts per GIR.