By The Associated Press

Published: Sunday, February 10, 2013, 9:21 p.m.
Updated: Monday, February 11, 2013

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — With one last birdie, Brandt Snedeker finally had a chance to catch his breath at one of the best places in golf.

In his past nine tournaments, he has six finishes in the top three, including back-to-back weeks as the runner-up to Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.

Snedeker wasn't about to let anyone get in his way at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

“Just hard to put into words, to have a stretch of golf like I had the last couple of months,” Snedeker said after his two-shot win. “I'm really enjoying this, and hopefully can parlay this into the best year of my career.”

He was the best all week at Pebble Beach, finishing at 19-under-par 267 to break by one shot the tournament record.

Snedeker built his lead in the final round by playing the opening seven holes in 5 under, fired at the flag on the par-3 17th to set up his last birdie and closed with a 7-under 65, his 10th consecutive round in the 60s.

A tap-in par on the 18th gave him a two-shot win over Chris Kirk, who stayed in the hunt all day without ever putting too much pressure on Snedeker.

The hottest player in golf, Snedeker finally has a trophy to show for it.

“The last two weeks, playing great but running into two Hall of Famers, really motivated me to go out and prove that I can handle the lead,” he said.

With his fourth win in the past 22 months, Snedeker improved to a career-best No. 4 in the world, the second-highest American in the world ranking behind Woods.

“Sneds is officially the best golfer on the planet right now,” Ian Poulter tweeted. “Some serious golf he is playing.”

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