Brandt Snedeker targets return to form in FedEx Cup after bone disease

(CNN) -- Breaking four ribs in six years has turned out to be more than just bad luck for golfer Brandt Snedeker.

After another rib injury saw his early season form vanish, the American World No. 7 discovered he had a debilitating bone disease.

"It's something called low bone turnover," Snedeker told CNN World Sport. "For some reason my rib cage doesn't generate the right amount of bone it should do.

"It boils down to the fact that I have brittle ribs. I'm now on medication to try and counteract it. It's been helping a lot.

"I haven't had any issues in the last few months and it's nice to get that behind me and focus more on golf."

Getting back on course, literally, will be a relief to Snedeker, who is targeting a big finish to the season in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs -- which start this week with The Barclays at Liberty National in New Jersey.

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After winning the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February, the 32-year-old was forced to take a month long break from the game.

That hiatus interrupted what he considered to be a halcyon period on the golf course.

"I played the best golf of my career in the first couple of months (of the year)," Snedeker explained.

"Then I got injured and I had to fight my way back from that.

"I've had some glimpse of playing some great golf again but I haven't had the consistency I had at the beginning of the year -- hopefully I can get back to that, I'm close."

Getting back to his best saw Snedeker clinch a three-shot victory at the Canadian Open at the end of July and climb to third in the FedEx Cup standings.

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Snedeker is the defending FedEx Cup champion and this week heads to New Jersey for the first of four playoffs.

But with Tiger Woods, who has won five times this season, leading the tournament rankings from fellow American Matt Kuchar, the golfer from Nashville is under no illusions about his chances of becoming the first person to successfully defend the crown.

"It's going to be really, really tough," said Snedeker. "I'm excited to be in a good position going into the playoffs but you never really know what's going to happen until you get in the mix of it.

"Tiger is leading that race and he is going to be a formidable guy going into the final stretch.

"But there are four tournaments and these are all great golf courses culminating at East Lake in Atlanta and it should be a lot of fun."

The FedEx Cup sees player accrue ranking points throughout the season with the top 125 taking part in the first playoff.

The field is whittled down with a final 70 players competing for the $10 million prize purse at the Tour Championship in Atlanta in September.