Serena Williams’ meltdown at a defenseless (and what looks like correct) line judge at the U.S. Open this weekend was difficult to watch. Brandt Snedeker’s Sunday four-putt on the 18th hole at the BMW Championship was gut-wrenching TV of a different variety.

Sports fans last remember the bashful Snedeker from the 2008 Masters, when he entered the back nine on Sunday as the best shot to catch eventual champion Trevor Immelman. He faltered at Amen Corner and broke down into tears afterwards. A lot of us out there became fans of Snedeker after his raw showing of emotion.

It makes what happened today that much more painful for just about everyone except John Senden.

Snedeker only needed to two-putt the 18th hole for bogey in order to place 30th in the FedEx Cup standings and move on to the final round at the Tour Championship. Instead, he rushed a three-footer and lipped it out, and then missed his subsequent tap-in. The crowd’s groan was deafening, both times.

Despite a 77, Senden captured the 30th spot and a ticket to the Tour Championship from Snedeker, who shot a 76.

Between the prize money at the BMW Championship and the guaranteed cash that awaited him in Atlanta, Snedeker is at minimum roughly $500,000 poorer as a result, and he’s going to have some demons festering in his head for awhile.

We all have to feel awful for Snedeker, but this validates the FedEx Cup a bit, because it added a bit of drama to Cog Hill Sunday, when Tiger Woods entered the day having lapped the field. Because of all the jostling for position heading into East Lake, we had a reason to watch to the (second-to-last) putt.

While Snedeker and Ian Poulter found themselves on the outside looking in, Jim Furyk made the most of his weekend, leaping up to third place. Marc Leishman placed well enough to warrant an absurd comment from Johnny Miller that maybe Adam Scott will offer up his Presidents Cup spot to him. Right.

Thankfully, someone was feeding NBC the up-to-date points so we could stay on top of the drama, because the whole system is still way too confusing to anyone who doesn’t have a graduate degree from M.I.T.

Now in its third year, this FedEx Cup thingy is finally getting some traction after all. I may very well tune into the Tour Championship this year, despite the fact my boy Sergio Garcia didn’t make the field despite some strong showings the past three weeks.

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