FedExCup profile: No. 5, Brandt Snedeker

We’re running down the players with a chance at the FedExCup, and here we are: the fabled top five. These guys control their destiny; if they win the Tour Championship, they win the FedExCup, no matter what anybody else does. Let’s begin with a guy who’s fast becoming a rather awkward household name.

It’s feast or famine at the Tour Championship, and indeed the entire FedExCup playoffs, for Brandt Snedeker. He made it to East Lake as a rookie in 2007, then in 2009 four-putted the final hole of the BMW Championship to play himself out of a berth. Exceptional play at the playoff-opening Barclays last year put him on a straight trajectory to the Tour Championship, but he was unable to capitalize.

Now, he’s got the best possible scenario (well, aside from being in the top four). He needs to win the tournament, and he’s proven he can do just that. He’s won three of his seven tournaments in coming from behind, most recently (and notably) erasing a seven-shot deficit against Kyle Stanley in the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year.

Snedeker was the early leader at this year’s British Open, but let a chance at victory slide away. He would go on to finish fourth, just four shots behind Ernie Els. Still, it put him in the golf spotlight in a way he hadn’t been before. He currently ranks 18th in the world, and has ranked as high as 15th.

If Snedeker finishes second at East Lake, he still has a mathematical chance of winning, assuming none of the players above him wins the tournament. And if that’s the case — if Tiger, Rory, Nick and Phil all fall apart — the door swings wide. Is Snedeker ready to step through?

Devil Ball Golf – Golf – Yahoo! Sports