Snedeker Wins Farmers Open Golf Playoff After Stanley Stumbles at Last Hole

Kyle Stanley blew a three-shot lead on the final hole at the Farmers Open at Torrey Pines. Stanely  made a triple-bogey 8 at the par-5 18th hole, allowing Brandt Snedeker an opportunity in a play off, which he had never expected.     Snedeker then collected his third career victory when Stanley, who was seeking his first win, missed a five-foot par putt on the second extra hole.

Talking about his victory Brandt said; “You never want to see anybody go through that, not even your worst enemy on the planet.  But he’s an unbelievably talented player, and the sky’s the limit for him. I hope he does not beat himself up too much over this.”

Asked about his last hole meltdown Stanley admitted; “Looking back, I don’t really know what I was thinking. It’s not a hard golf hole, it’s really a pretty straightforward par-5. I could probably play it a thousand times and never make an 8.”

He was in tears during his post match interview, but tried to remain positive;

“It’s just tough to swallow right now. I just need to be patient. One of my goals coming into this year was to just keep putting myself in position, and I’ll do that.”

Kyle Stanley builds five-shot lead at Torrey Pines

Kyle Stanley  opened a five-shot lead in the Farmers Insurance Open on Saturday. even though  he missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that would have broken the 54-hole tournament record set by Tiger Woods in 1998. That record of course was set before Rees Jones beefed up the South Course for the 2008 U.S. Open.  On the 526-yard 13th hole Kyle blasted a tee shot so far down the hill that he only needed a soft 7-iron into the green, leaving the ball just 15 feet below the hole just on the fringe leading to a two-putt birdie. On seeing the tee shot his playing partner Sang-moon Bae turned to him and said with a smile; ”Are you playing this as a par 4?”

Kyle’s round of 68 gave him a 54 hole total of -18 under par and feeling happy with his days work;  ” This is something you dream about as a kid. But there’s still one more round. I’m very pleased, I’m putting really well and driving it well and hitting my irons well. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing, I’m pretty relaxed, pretty comfortable and I really like this golf course.

 

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Kyle Stanley’s nearest challengers are John Huh and John Rollins, both a daunting five shots off the top at -13 under par for the tournament.

It will be interesting to see if Kyle can remain cool, calm and collected in the final round