Brandt Snedeker falls fast at Riviera after Monterey win

It wasn’t a stone’s throw: Brandt Snedeker had a much rougher time at Riviera than he did last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Snedeker seemed to be heading south with some momentum after winning the PGA event in Monterey at 22 under par.

This week?

Snedeker made the cut on the number at three-over, but shot eight-over 79 on Saturday.

He followed that with a four-over 75 and a final tally of 15-over 299.

That’s a 37-shot differential.

Snedeker finished second to last in the field, at position 74. The only score worse was Jhonattan Vegas’ 16-over 300.

The good news for Snedeker was that last week’s win at Pebble clinched a spot for him in this week’s Masters.

Incidentally, Snedeker’s eight-over 79 on Saturday was his highest score on the PGA tour since shooting 80 in the third round of last year’s Masters.

Rain, rain, go away

Defending champion Bubba Watson was hoping for dry weather in the final round of the Northern Trust Open.

He said he doesn’t play well in the rain, and then he proved it.

Only four shots off the lead entering the day, Watson shot a two-over 73 and ended up with a two-under 282 overall.

He tied for 14th place.

Go Bears

James Hahn became the first PGA Tour winner who hails from the University of California.

“That’s awesome,” Hahn said. “There’s so many good guys coming through that program. I just wanted to kind of be the first. That was also a goal of mine and I did it.”

Jack Nicklaus, known as “The Golden Bear,” won 18 major championships — but he attended Ohio State.

Don’t try this at home

Alex Cejka played the 315-yard par 10 at Riviera this week in even-par for his four rounds. OK, now here’s the full story: Cejka did it without making a par on the hole. He got to even with birdie-bogey-eagle-double bogey.

Russell Henley, a 25-year-old tour pro from Macon, Ga., likes to relax from golf by playing the guitar. He is so accomplished that he sometimes plays free concerts at competitions. Saturday, after his excellent round of two-under 69, Henley played an event with popular rock band O.A.R. on the driving range at Riviera.

He woke up Sunday and shot a six-over 77, with a 41 on his back side.

New song suggestion: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

Or, something from “Cold Play.”

Closing speed

Blayne Barber started Sunday’s round at three-over 216 in a tie for 45th place. He ended up in the top 15 after the low round of the day, a six-under 65.

“I didn’t think six-under was out there, but just started hitting some shots and gave myself some looks.”

Barber was so far out of contention, he started his day on the par-four 10th home, but shot a four-under 32 on his front nine.

Barber shot six under par on a day when Riviera played over par with an average score of 72.5.

Missed it by this much

Jordan Spieth missed the playoff by a shot after making a bogey-five on the 72nd hole.

Spieth, the world’s No. 9 ranked player, can kick himself for missing other opportunities. He made only par at the first, a birdie hole for most of the field and took a double-bogey five at the par-three fourth hole.

“Dumb mistakes,” Spieth said. “I guess it’s early in the year, maybe that’s it.

“This is my first time really having a chance to win a tournament since December, so I’ll learn from those.”