World Number 23 and Ryder Cup winning team member Brandt Snedeker has continued his celebrations claiming the 2016 Fiji International.
Starting the final round three shots clear of the field, Snedeker showed his dominance firing rounds of 69, 65, 70, 68 to win the title by nine shots.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day. I birdied the first hole out of the gate,” said Snedeker.
“Being 3-under after the first six it all kind of went my way and I hit quality golf shots. I just never really let up.”
“I did not expect to win by nine shots, this golf course is funny, it’s brutal. I knew if I let up for a second, there could be a big number waiting for me.”
“It was about to happen on 10, I was able to survive there. I kept my head down and kept going all day long.”
Never under threat, Snedeker cruised to an easy victory at the Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course, however the nerves were still present.
“There’s always going to be nerves but I did a great job calming down on the first tee, hitting two quality shots and then making the putt,” added Snedeker.
“I’m very happy with the comfort level I felt in that situation and never really gave anything back. I didn’t do anything that would cause myself to lose the tournament.”
“I am just building on a lot of positive stuff right now so it’s a lot of fun.”
Following a successful fortnight Snedeker is eyeing a Major Championship, believing his Fiji experience will help him achieve his next career goal.
“It’s been a pretty good two weeks; it would be good if I had a tournament next week. But the week off will be good, it will give me some time to rest and get my mind right,” added Snedeker.
“I’ve done a lot of other stuff in my career and last week propelled that for my career, handling the pressure like it did.”
“Today’s going to help me too, handling a big lead the way I did. To know that I can handle whatever golf courses will throw at me against the best players in the world and come out on top.”
“Now it’s just time to get ready and go and be excited about it.”
While Snedeker will celebrate by returning to his honeymoon destination in Fiji, he still plans on finding time to text his mate and 2015 Fiji International champion Matt Kuchar.
“I will definitely send Matt a text when I get off the golf course to let him know that I won,” added Snedeker.
“I don’t think he won by nine like I did this year so; I will make sure he knows that.”
While Snedeker was well out in front, the rest of the field were battling for second place.
New Zealander Michael Hendry recorded an even par round to finish the Fiji International outright second on 7-under the card.
With this runner-up finish Michael Hendry has overtaken Matthew Griffin on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit. He leads by just AU$1,200.74.
A further shot back were Brad Shilton (NZ), Andrew Evans (NSW), Matthew Giles (NSW), and Anthony Houston (Vic).
Rounding out the top-10 on 5-under the card were Jake Higginbottom (NSW), Daniel Fox (WA), Matthew Griffin (VIC), Inhoi Hur (KOR) and Ben Eccles (VIC).
Local hero Vijay Singh finished on 2-under the card and tied 21st.