Brandt Snedeker ended nearly eight years without a PGA Tour victory on Sunday, closing with a 5-under 66 to win the Myrtle Beach Classic by one shot at Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The 45-year-old finished at 18-under 266 and held off Mark Hubbard for his first title since the Wyndham Championship in 2018.

The win was Snedeker’s 10th career PGA Tour victory and came 2,821 days after his last one. It also earned him a spot in the PGA Championship and a two-year exemption, a jolt of security for a player who had been trying to work his way back after sternum surgery and had not had his tour card in the last couple of years.

Snedeker said he felt amazing and described the victory as something he was “so pumped” to pull off at his age. He said it meant everything, adding that he had spent the last few years struggling to keep doing what he loves and wanting to show his family and his kids that he can still do it. Those words fit the scene Sunday, where a player who once seemed to be grinding for chances found himself back in the winner’s circle again.

The Myrtle Beach Classic is an opposite-field event played the same week as the signature tournament at Quail Hollow, which is why the prize structure matters so much. Snedeker’s victory got him into the PGA Championship, but not the Masters, a reminder that even a long-awaited win can come with sharp limits depending on the event.

Hubbard finished second after a 70, falling short in his 274th PGA Tour start while chasing his first victory. He said he thought he had hit a much better wedge shot late, expected the ball to get closer and was left with a putt with “5 feet of break down grain.” He said he was happy to give it a good run, but the break never came. Beau Hossler and Kevin Roy tied for third at 16-under, while Blades Brown’s 67 put him in a tie for ninth. Brown had finished third in the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year and had already played in the final group with Scottie Scheffler at The American Express, and his top-10 finish made him eligible for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in two weeks.

Brooks Koepka tied for 11th after a closing 70, but the day belonged to Snedeker, who turned a comeback bid into one of the most meaningful wins of his career. After years of injuries, uncertainty and missed chances, he is back inside the schedule on his own terms.