Snedeker in vintage form

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February 14, 2015

Brandt Snedeker will look to extend his one shot lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am when the third round tees off on Saturday.

The American shares the lead with Australia’s Matt Jones, after they carded a five-under 67 and a 66 respectively in Friday’s second round.

Snedeker, who won at Pebble Beach two years ago, told AP that he knows he can’t afford to play conservatively over the next two rounds.

“The years I’m playing good, it seems like it comes down to how you play Pebble over the last two days,” he said.

“When the weather is good, you need to be able to get after it and shoot a low round. And the way the scores are right now and the weather forecast over the weekend, it’s going to take … somewhere around 20-under par to win this golf tournament.

“So I’ve got to look at 7- to 10-under par the next couple days to win. I can’t take the foot off the gas pedal.”

Snedeker has had a resurgence over the first two rounds in California and is showing glimpses of the form that ability that saw him rise to a career record high of fourth in the world rankings after his 2013 victory at Pebble.

The 34-year-old is currently 63rd on the rankings, after missing the cut at the Humana Challenge, tying for tenth at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and finishing tied for 19th at the Farmers Insurance Open last week.

Snedeker carded a 64 in Thursday’s opening round, and fired five birdies in Friday’s 66 to grab the lead on 12-under.

He is desperate to claim a second win at Pebble Beach, or at least take a healthy share of the ranking points on offer.

“It’s no fun not being eligible for the Masters and not playing World Golf Championships and stuff like that,” Snedeker said.

“So it’s a huge motivating factor, not that I need any more to be motivated for, but I definitely want to make sure that I qualify for the Masters and Match Play and WGCs and all that kind of stuff.

“And to do that, I need to play good. So it’s nobody to blame but myself. I need to get out there and get it done.”

Co-leader Jones carded a 65 in round one, and fired eight birdies and two bogies on Friday. Justin Hicks, who shared the overnight lead with JB Holmes, stayed in contention with a three-under 68, which saw him drop to third place on 11-under.

While ten players are tied for fourth place and trailing by a single shot.