IN recognition of his character, sportsmanship and commitment to charitable giving, nine-time PGA tour winner and 2012 FedExCup Champion Brandt Snedeker has been named the 2024 recipient of the PGA tour’s Payne Stewart Award presented by Southern Company. Snedeker will be honored on Tuesday, August 27, at the Payne Stewart Award Ceremony in conjunction with the tour Championship. The ceremony will be televised live on Golf Channel as part of a “Golf Central” special from 7-8 p.m. ET at the Southern Exchange in downtown Atlanta.
“Brandt Snedeker exemplifies everything the Payne Stewart Award represents,“ said PGA tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. “As one of our game’s most respected players, Brandt has displayed a steadfast commitment to using his platform to better the lives of so many families in his home state of Tennessee. He and Mandy have worked tirelessly to build their family foundation and establish opportunities for children on and off the golf course, and it’s inspiring to know those efforts will continue for years to come.”
The Payne Stewart Award is presented annually by the PGA tour to a professional golfer who best exemplifies Stewart’s steadfast values of character, charity and sportsmanship. Stewart, an 11-time winner on the PGA tour and World Golf Hall of Fame member, died tragically 25 years ago during the week of the tour Championship in 1999. Southern Company, the “Official Energy Company of the PGA tour and PGA tour Champions,“ was the tour Championship presenting sponsor the year of Stewart’s passing. A year later, the PGA tour created the Payne Stewart Award in his honor, and Southern Company has supported the annual presentation since its inception.
Snedeker, 43, is a Nashville, Tennessee, native and has nine tour titles to his credit. His remarkable 2012 FedExCup title helped him and his wife, Mandy, launch the Snedeker Foundation shortly thereafter. He and his wife have two children, Lily and Austin.
“It’s an amazing honor and privilege to be a recipient of this award,“ said Snedeker. “With my family being from Springfield, Missouri, Payne’s hometown, he was my favorite golfer growing up and to have my name on this trophy is unbelievable. When you’re recognized for an award like this, it means not only are you a good player, but you’re a good person. This was one of my dreams and it came true.”
Snedeker’s Charitable Commitment
In addition to a sculpture by Bob Pack presented to the recipient, the Payne Stewart Award is accompanied by an annual Payne Stewart Award Grant made possible by Southern Company. The $500,000 grant supports several initiatives in Stewart’s name and is distributed as follows: $100,000 to Payne and Tracey Stewart’s primary charity, The Stewart Family Foundation; $100,000 in Stewart’s honor to Payne Stewart Memorial, located in Missouri at Kids Across America, which is affiliated with Kanakuk Kamps; and $300,000 to a charity designated by the recipient.
Snedeker has chosen to direct funds to the Snedeker Foundation. For more than a decade, the organization has focused its efforts on supporting youth initiatives on both the social and athletic fronts across Middle Tennessee. Our Kids, one of the Foundation’s most prominent initiatives, provides expert medical evaluations and crisis counseling services in response to concerns of child sexual abuse. Our Kids is one of the largest clinics of its kind in the country, with eight team members providing free 24/7 coverage to 47 counties in Middle Tennessee. Since 1987, Our Kids has evaluated more than 30,000 children with 65 percent of them being age 7 or younger.
Another focus of Snedeker’s charitable giving has been geared toward the junior game, where he has helped provide a platform for the next generation of golfers to reach their potential through the Sneds tour. In partnership with the Tennessee Golf Foundation, the Sneds tour is a year-round junior golf tour that operates 174 events and makes the game more accessible by providing lower entry and registrations fees.
In line with providing support to aspiring golfers, the Snedeker Foundation teamed up with the Tennessee Golf Foundation in December 2023 to fund the creation of a practice facility for Nashville Christian School, which will be used in a collaborative effort between those students and the Tennessee School for the Blind.
Additionally, since 2017, the Snedeker Foundation has partnered with Simmons Bank and the Korn Ferry tour to host the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, which has raised more than $1 million for charities in the region. The tournament was awarded Korn Ferry tour tournament of the Year in 2022.
“The philanthropic work Brandt performs on behalf of others – including some of the most vulnerable among us – demonstrates how his values are as meaningful to him as his victories,“ said Chris Womack, chairman, president & CEO of Southern Company. “His contributions ensure others feel loved, respected and cared for and make our world a better place.”
Snedeker On Course
True to his Tennessee roots, Snedeker remained in his hometown to pursue his collegiate career at Vanderbilt University. Over the course of his time at Vanderbilt, Snedeker became one of the Commodores’ most decorated golfers in history. His accolades included being named SEC Freshman of the Year, a second-team All-America selection as a junior and the 2003 SEC Player of the Year and first-team All-American in his senior year. Snedeker added a victory at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in 2003, which earned him a spot in the 2004 Masters tournament.
After turning professional in 2004, Snedeker found success in the professional ranks with two victories on the Korn Ferry tour in 2006 to earn his PGA tour card for the 2007 season.
Officially joining the PGA tour in 2007, Snedeker collected six top-10 finishes, including his first career tour title at the Wyndham Championship, and was later named the recipient of the Arnold Palmer Award as PGA tour Rookie of the Year.
Throughout his current 20-year tour career, Snedeker has earned nine career PGA tour victories, including the 2012 tour Championship, which secured the season-long title as FedExCup Champion, and was selected to three national teams. His two Ryder Cup appearances (2012, 2016) were highlighted by the only perfect 3-0-0 record in the 2016 matches.
Snedeker was inducted into the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009 and was nominated for the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame’s Male Professional Athlete of the Year Award in 2013.
Snedeker is the 27th recipient of the Payne Stewart Award, joining a distinguished group of respected golfers including Gary Koch, who was recognized in 2023, and the inaugural recipients Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer (2000). Other recipients include Billy Andrade (2022), Justin Rose (2021), Zach Johnson (2020), Hale Irwin (2019), Bernhard Langer (2018), Stewart Cink (2017), Jim Furyk (2016), Ernie Els (2015), Sir Nick Faldo (2014), Peter Jacobsen (2013), Steve Stricker (2012), David Toms (2011), Tom Lehman (2010), Kenny Perry (2009), Davis Love III (2008), Hal Sutton (2007), Gary Player (2006), Brad Faxon (2005), Jay Haas (2004), Tom Watson (2003), Nick Price (2002), and Ben Crenshaw (2001).
