Brandt Snedeker Returns To PGA Tour After 'Experimental Surgery' That Sounds Like It's Straight Out Of A Horror Movie

Published|Updated

Brandt Snedeker is making his first start on the PGA Tour since September of last year at this week's Memorial. The former FedEx Cup champion was sidelined for nine months after undergoing surgery on his sternum and enduring a painstakingly long rehab process.

Snedeker had been dealing with a sternum injury for years, but after his T-59 finish in September's Fortinet Championship, he realized something needed to be done.

What was done was an "experimental surgery" that sounds both horrifying and extraordinarily painful.

"Took a bone out of my hip and cut my sternum open and kind of created a new sternum, in a sense. It is way more stable and hopefully does not cause me pain," Snedeker told the media ahead of the Memorial.

b2e1c1ec-

Brandt Snedeker makes his return to the PGA Tour after undergoing a brutal-sounding surgery on his sternum. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

READ: JACK NICKLAUS ADMITS THAT LIV GOLF HAS MADE THE PGA TOUR ‘BETTER,’ WHICH IS TOUGH TO ARGUE AGAINST

The nine-time PGA Tour went into more graphic detail about how surgeons broke his sternum on purpose and attached what is now a former piece of his hip bone to his 'new' sternum.

"They took a bone about the size of my thumb out of my hip and they cut my sternum open and kind of cut across it and made a huge incision," Snedeker explained. "They dialed out about the size of my pinkie on my lower part of the sternum and upper part and put that bone in the middle of 'em and kind of created a dowel almost like thing. And then wrapped it with bone putty and paste and tried to kind of let it heal and reattach itself."

"So kind of broke my sternum on purpose, cut my sternum open, and then kind of reattached it."

This sounds like some sort of sick procedure you'd see in a 'Saw' movie or something. How doctors even come up with this idea for a procedure in the first place is mindblowing, but that's why they're doctors and I write about sports for a living.

Snedeker is surely excited to get back inside the ropes and play competitive golf again after 16 weeks of "just sitting still" during rehab.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.