Seven days ago, the 24-year-old had let the Farmers Insurance Open title slip out of his clutches. He led by five at the start of the final round and was still up by three when he came to the 18th hole at Torrey Pines in pursuit of what seemed sure to be his first PGA TOUR win.

But Stanley watched forlornly that afternoon as his third shot at the par 5 was sucked off the green. A three-putt later, he had posted an 8 and was off to a playoff that Brandt Snedeker, who had been in the media center watching the disaster on TV, won on the second extra hole.

Stanley’s brave face but bitter tears that evening had said it all.

On the very next Sunday, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Spencer Levin was poised for a similar coronation. He led by six at the start of the final round and was seemingly doing everything right. Kyle Stanley trailed by eight, just as Snedeker had the previous week.

This time, though, in a dramatic reversal of fortunes, Stanley emerged as the winner — firing a brilliant 65 on a warm and welcoming afternoon at TPC Scottsdale to take the one-stroke victory.

“I think the biggest challenge was seeing if I could put last week behind me,” Stanley said simply. “I think I did.”

Levin, on the other hand, was cast in Stanley’s role as he shot a 75 that included a double bogey on the par-5 15th hole, the third-easiest on the course. After an adventure in the cactus and a 5-iron that fell short in the water, he surrendered sole possession of the lead and was never able to catch up.

As disappointed as the shell-shocked Levin was, he understood the magnitude of what Stanley accomplished in the span of the last 168 hours. And he’d like nothing better than to have the same opportunity this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

“That’s pretty awesome from what happened last week to come back and win the very next week,” the disappointed but surprisingly composed Levin said. “That shows he’s a hell of a player obviously. But I guess it shows that you can recover from it. I think I will. I feel like I am getting better, like I keep saying. It was a weird feeling today. I’ve never had a lead like that.”

http://www.pgatour.com/2012/tournaments/r003/02/05/ross-sunday/index.

Kyle Stanley led by seven shots early in the final round Sunday, and he still had a four-shot lead as he stood on the 18th tee at Torrey Pines. Just like that, he went from being anointed a rising star to a meltdown that ranks among the most shocking in golf.

Snedeker, in the group ahead of him, hit wedge to a foot for birdie and a 67, then drove up to the media tent for an interview as the runner-up. He arrived in time to watch Stanley spin a wedge into the water, then three-putt from 45 feet for a triple-bogey 8 and a 74.

Two playoff holes later, both were in shock.

Snedeker’s tee shot hopped over the green and would have gone into a canyon except that it bounced off a television tower. He chipped to about 5 feet and made the par. Stanley three-putted again from just outside 45 feet, his 5-foot par putt catching the right lip.

“It’s just crazy,” Snedeker said. “To get my mind around what happened the last 30 minutes is pretty hard to do right now. My heart is out to Kyle. I feel bad for him to have to go through this.”

Stanley, whose power, poise and polish was on display all week, was reduced to tears. His eyes were glassy and his lip quivered as he tried to answer questions, a sad ending to an otherwise spectacular week along the Pacific bluffs.

“It’s not a hard golf hole,” Stanley said. “I could probably play it a thousand times and never make an 8.”

But he did Sunday, a painful lesson for the 24-year-old out of Clemson.

It was the second straight time Snedeker won a PGA Tour event by rallying from five shots behind in the final round to win in a playoff. He did it at Hilton Head last April and beat Luke Donald.

This one was handed to him.

Stanley birdied his first two holes and led by six shots at the turn until he started dropping shots from the sand. Even so, he made three straight par putts, starting with a 12-footer on the 14th, to seemingly regain control.

The kid knows heartache. Last summer, he was two shots ahead at the John Deere Classic until he bogeyed the final hole from a bunker, and Steve Stricker closed with two straight birdies to win.

This loss, however, put him in the wrong kind of company.

It was reminiscent of Jean Van de Velde at Carnoustie, who made triple bogey on the last hole of the 1999 British Open and lost in a playoff; of Robert Garrigus, who made triple bogey on the last hole of the St. Jude Classic in 2010 and lost in a playoff; and even of Frank Lickliter at Torrey Pines, who three-putted from 12 feet on the 17th hole in 2001 to make triple bogey in the third playoff hole in losing to Phil Mickelson.

“I know I’ll be back,” Stanley said, pausing to allow the words to come out of his mouth. “It’s tough to swallow right now.”

http://www.pga.com/news/pga-tour/brandt-snedeker-wins-farmers-insurance-in-playoff-after-kyle-stanley-triple-bogeysDEKER

He’s not exactly superstitious. Wilson just likes the sense of order that ritual gives him as he embarks on an uncertain future over the next four or five hours and 18 holes.
“That’s one thing I can control,” Wilson explained. “A lot of things I can’t. I can’t control my opponents, bounces or the roll on the green.”

Nowhere was that more evident than during Sunday’s final round of the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. His opponents were making birdies with abandon and Wilson was stuck in neutral, watching his three-stroke advantage quickly disappear.

But when the pressure intensified on the back nine of the Palmer Private Course at PGA West, Wilson regained control of his game as well as the tournament. He tapped in a 9-inch putt for his first birdie of the day at No. 11 and holed a bunker shot for another at the 12th, an unexpected development that “gave me the momentum to go in the right direction,” Wilson said.

He and Robert Garrigus then traded birdie putts at the 16th to separate themselves from the crowd before a missed 6-footer at the next gave Wilson the upper hand he would not relinquish. Not even with Garrigus staring down a 28-footer for eagle as darkness enveloped the the 18th hole. Not when his own successful 10-footer for birdie there would more than do the trick as it broke a inch to the right and curled into the hole.

“That’s what we play for,” a reflective Wilson said. “You want somebody to win it, not necessarily lose it. So it was neat to have (Robert) making birdies back and forth. And I don’t look at the leaderboards really, and I just happened to glance on 17 to see what was going on. …

“But I reminded myself, I’m in position. You have a lot of thoughts go through your head; am I going to come out and play well and win or am I going to come out and play flat and finish 10th or am I going to have a horrible day and finish close to the bottom? You just don’t know.

Updated standings
Mark Wilson moved to No. 2 with his victory but Johnson Wagner maintained his top spot. Complete standings
“I just tried to clear my head of that and said, This is what we play for, let’s enjoy the day. Win or lose, let’s try to be a good example out there.”

Wilson ended up with a hard-fought, two-stroke victory over Garrigus, John Mallinger and Johnson Wagner — the fifth of his PGA TOUR career. Two came in the first five events of the 2011 season and now he has another in the just third of this year. There’s a reason for that, and Wilson, who didn’t build on his early season momentum last year, has scheduled several longer breaks this season to make sure he is fresh.

“When I came out the last two years, I really just had a clear mind and really focusing on what I’m doing, not worrying about my standing in the world rankings or my standing in the money list or FedExCup or how I’m doing against or the players that week,” Wilson said. “I feel like I’m more into my zone.”

And he certain was on the back nine Sunday. But as much as Wilson persevered with the pressure on, patiently waiting for the birdies he knew would come, Garrigus did the same after an extremely difficult start to the week.

http://www.pgatour.com/2012/tournaments/r002/01/22/ross-sunday/index.html

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Steve Stricker has a bad habit of losing big leads. He managed to slip back into his old habit of winning.

Despite losing most of his five-shot lead in only six holes, Stricker steadied himself in time to kick off the new PGA Tour season with a three-shot victory in the Tournament of Champions on Monday.

PHOTOS
Hyundai TOC
Right when it looked as though Stricker was coming unglued, he made back-to-back birdies at the turn. That restored his lead to three shots, and no one got closer than two shots the rest of the way.

Stricker birdied his last hole for a 4-under 69 for his 12th career win, which moved him to No. 5 in the world ranking.

Sweeter than the winner’s lei draped around his neck on the 18th green at Kapalua were his two children, 13-year-old Bobbi Maria and 5-year-old Isabella, there to greet him with a hug.

Stricker held back tears – they usually flow freely after a win – perhaps a sign that he’s getting used to this business of winning. It was his ninth PGA Tour win since he turned 40, and his eighth title in his last 50 tournaments.

As usual, he didn’t make it easy on himself.

Stricker had a five-shot lead going into the Monday finish on Maui, and it was just about gone when he muffed a flop shot and took bogey on the sixth hole.

Martin Laird, Webb Simpson and Jonathan Byrd each got within one shot of Stricker on the front nine, but not for long. Stricker rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 eighth, pitched to tap-in range at the par-5 ninth and was on his way.

Laird closed with a 67, and his birdie on the last hole put him alone in second place. Byrd kept most of the pressure on Stricker along the back nine of the Plantation Course, but he bogeyed the 17th. He had a 68 and tied for third with Simpson, who had a 68.

Stricker could not have started the new season better – all four rounds in the 60s, and already able to book his room at Kapalua for next year.

“It was tough,” said Stricker, who finished at 23-under 269. “I never let up today. It’s always tough trying to win, and it’s even more tough when you have a lead like I did. I’m very proud of what I did today.

Believing his only chance to capture the PGA Tour money title was to win at Disney, Donald ran off six straight birdies on the back nine Sunday and closed with an 8-under 64 to come from five shots off the lead and win the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

“This is one of the most satisfying wins of my career,” Donald said.

Donald, who trailed Webb Simpson by $363,029 coming into the final tournament of the year, was two behind Simpson when they made the turn. Then came a performance that ranks among Donald’s best, even in his greatest season of golf.

He holed four straight birdie putts inside 8 feet, took the lead with an 18-foot birdie on the par-5 14th hole, then sealed his stunning rally with a 45-foot birdie on the 15th hole.

“Everything was on the line,” Donald said. “I’m thrilled and over the moon.”

It was his second PGA Tour win of the year. Donald also won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average. With no one else winning more than twice this year, Donald established himself as a heavy favorite to be PGA Tour player of the year.

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/doug-ferguson/disney-round-4-wrapup/?hj=xfs

“What the heck am I doing here?” Crane said.

His wife is expecting their third child, though a Caesarian section is scheduled for Monday in Dallas. Crane thought about withdrawing five minutes before his tee time Thursday because of a sore hip that was getting worse.

And with 11 holes left in the tournament, he was seven shots out of the lead.

Crane ran off four straight birdies around the turn, then another batch of four straight birdies for a 7-under 63. He wound up winning in a playoff when Webb Simpson missed a short par putt on the second extra hole.

“I’m in a little bit of shock — a lot of shock,” Crane said. “I don’t know how those guys played, but I know I played just about as good as I can play.”

Michael Thompson, a 25-year-old TOUR rookie who had a one-shot lead going into the final round, stretched the margin to three shots on the front nine until he stalled. He hit his tee shot into a hazard on the 18th hole, made bogey and shot 69 to finish one shot out of the playoff.

Billy Horschel, also playing in the last group, imploded early and late and shot 75.

Simpson closed with a 66, despite not making a birdie over his last seven holes. The playoff — the 18th this year on the PGA TOUR to extend a record — looked as though it might go longer when Crane made a 5-foot comebacker for par on the 17th. Simpson only had to knock in a putt just over 3 feet for par, but it caught the right edge and spun away.

“As soon as I hit it, I looked up expecting it to be going in, and saw it catching the right lip,” Simpson said. “It was unfortunate to end that way.”

Despite missing a chance to become the PGA TOUR’s only three-time winner this year, Simpson’s runner-up finish gave him a commanding lead over Luke Donald in his late bid to win the TOUR’s money title.

Shot of the Day
Ben Crane drains this 22-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole.
Crane, who earned $720,000 for his first win this year, and Simpson finished at 15-under 265 at Sea Island.

Starting the day five shots out of the lead, Crane thought a 63 or 62 might be enough. He really didn’t pay much attention, not realizing until he saw a leaderboard on the 16th hole that he was still in the game.

His 7-iron on the 14th stopped a foot from going in. His 3-wood on the par-5 15th set up a two-putt birdie from long range. Once he knew the score, Crane was at his best with the putter, holing birdie putts of about 20 feet on the 16th and 17th.

“I thought, `Well, I need to make two birdies in three holes.’ Do you guys have any idea how many times we say that to ourselves? And how many times does it actually happen?”

It did on Sunday, giving Crane is fourth career win.

http://www.pgatour.com/2011/r/10/16/wrap-McGladrey-4/index.html

“I could hear the security behind me. I was still bent over my putt. And when I looked up (the hot dog) was already in the air.”– Tiger Woods

The unidentified person was quickly subdued and Woods was not in any danger. In fact, within a minute, he had settled back over the putt he was attempting.

“I looked up and the hot dog was in the air,” Woods said of the incident that occurred on the seventh hole, his 16th of the day. “(The fan) wanted to be in the news. I guess he is now.”

The tournament’s director of security, Dan Diggins, would not disclose the person’s name. “He’s just an idiot,” Diggins said. He added the 31-year-old man didn’t get within 40 feet of Woods, who was finishing up the Frys.com Open with a final-round 68.

Sgt. Jose Cardoza of the Santa Clara County police department said the 31-year-old suspect was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor. He was escorted from the property.

Cardoza said only that the man was from Santa Rosa.

“He was very cooperative,” Cardoza said. “They said, ‘Why did you do this?’ He just shook his head in guilt or remorse. He didn’t give a reason why he did it.”

Cardoza said the man claims he wasn’t throwing the hot dog at Woods, rather tossing it in the air. He said the man acknowledged having a drink earlier in the day, but that the man was not drunk.

Harig: Tiger’s Momentum Lost?
Tiger Woods’ game appeared to turn the corner at the Frys.com Open, but whether he can capitalize on it remains to be seen, writes ESPN.com’s Bob Harig. Column

“How weird was that,” said Arjun Atwal, one of the other players in Woods’ group. “That guy could have been shot the way he ran out there with that hot dog. The cops could have thought it was something else. The hot dog flew across Tiger’s (putting) line and onto my line. The bun kind of fell at his feet. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Woods said that it appeared the person wanted and expected to be arrested.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/7081746/golf-fan-arrested-tossing-hot-dog-tiger-woods

That wasn’t the case when he left Georgia Tech nearly a decade ago after being an All-American all four years. And it certainly wasn’t the case Sunday at the Frys.com Open in the longest playoff of the year on the PGA Tour.

Molder captured his first tour victory by making a 6-foot birdie putt on the sixth playoff hole to outlast Briny Baird.

Harig: Tiger’s Momentum Lost?
Tiger Woods’ game appeared to turn the corner at the Frys.com Open, but whether he can capitalize on it remains to be seen, writes ESPN.com’s Bob Harig. Column

“It’s a little surreal right now,” Molder said.

Molder and Baird were stuck in time, going from the 17th hole to the 18th hole in three cycles, matching birdies and pars, both players feeling at various points that they were going to win.

Three times, Molder hit driver on the 284-yard 17th hole over the water and had eagle putts for the win, each one a little closer to the hole than the previous one, all of them sliding by the side of the cup.

On the fourth extra hole, Baird felt like a winner when Molder drove into the hazard. Molder was able to get to the front of the green from the junk, while Baird’s wedge hit the top of the flag and spun back some 12 feet. He missed.

After nearly two hours, Baird blinked and Molder finally made a putt to win.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/7082654/bryce-molder-wins-cordevalle-6-playoff-holes

The South Korea-born American finally broke through after holding off the challenge of world number 11 Nick Watney at the Las Vegas Open on Sunday, triumphing by two shots at the TPC Summerlin. [ID:nN1E79105F]

“It wasn’t easy,” Las Vegas resident Na told reporters after earning a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a cheque for $792,000 with his long-awaited victory.

“Nick was coming right behind me, and it looked like any time he was going to make a move. I tried as best as I could to stay one step ahead of him. The putt on 17 basically sealed the deal for me.”

Na rolled in a 43-footer at the par-three 17th to stretch his lead to two shots, a putt he prayed would break right shortly before the ball reached the cup.

“It was left off the start and the putt goes right at the end,” the 28-year-old said. “It was perfect, right on line where I wanted it, just left of the hole about three inches.

“Then I just kneeled down on one knee and was just praying that thing would come back. And sure enough it did. When I made that putt, I felt like I had the tournament in the bag.”

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/03/golf-pga-na-idUKN1E79108D20111003

To somehow save par.

Against all odds, to stay alive in his sudden-death playoff with Hunter Mahan at the Tour Championship, the richest playoff in golf history with FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus riding on the outcome.

Harig: Playoff Problems

The fact that one player claimed both the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup title was by no means a sure thing. That alone shows the playoff system still needs fixing, writes ESPN.com’s Bob Harig. Column

“It was an all or nothing shot,” Haas said. “So if I don’t pull it off, I’m shaking Hunter’s hand.”

As he did through the final, frenzied hour at East Lake on Sunday, it worked to near perfection. Haas splashed the ball out onto the green to 3 feet for par, then won the Tour Championship — and the FedEx Cup — on the third extra playoff hole.

In the five-year history of this FedEx Cup, no finish was more compelling.

A handful of players had a shot at the $10 million with an hour left in the tournament until it came down to two — Haas and Mahan, in a sudden-death playoff with such high stakes that the difference between winning and losing was nearly $10 million.

Haas wound up winning a combined $11.44 million, including $10 million for capturing the FedEx Cup. Mahan, who failed to save par from a bunker on the third extra hole, had to settle for $864,000 as the runner-up and $700,000 for finishing seventh in the FedEx Cup.

Haas won for the first time this year, and the payoff could be more than just a massive bank deposit. Fred Couples makes his final captain’s pick on Tuesday for the Presidents Cup, and Haas put on quite a show.

“I did what I could do,” Haas said.

Even if Couples wasn’t watching, his assistant captain had a great view: Jay Haas, Bill’s dad, was in the gallery at East Lake, and raised his arms as his 29-year-old son delivered the riveting conclusion.

“I’m proud of him the way he came back,” Jay Haas said.

Only a week ago, Haas was poised to make the Presidents Cup on his own until a 42 on the back nine at Cog Hill. He was atop the leaderboard Saturday at East Lake until a bogey-double bogey finish.

And he almost let it get away from him again. Haas had a three-shot lead when he walked off the 15th green, only to make bogey from the trees on the 16th and bogey from the gallery on the 18th for a 2-under 68.

Mahan had to make par on the 232-yard closing hole. He hit a clutch chip — the biggest weakness in his game — and holed a 5-foot par putt for a 71 to join Haas in the high-stakes playoff.

They returned to the par-3 18th and the pressure was obvious with so much money at stake. Haas hit his shot well right, into the gallery for the third straight time, then hit a tough chip to 10 feet. Mahan went in the bunker and blasted out to 6 feet. Haas appeared to be down to his last shot, but holed the par putt to stay alive.

What followed was an amazing turnaround.

From the right bunker, his approach to the 17th on the second playoff hole tumbled down the hill and barely into the lake, the top half of the ball still showing. Mahan hit a pitching wedge to 15 feet, and must have thought the $11.44 million was his.

Mahan was in that same lake on Thursday when he removed his socks and shoes and played back to the fairway, so when he saw what Haas had done, he knew it wasn’t over. He just didn’t think — no one did, really — that Haas could hit such a spectacular shot.

“I thought I had won on the second playoff hole, and then he hits it out of the water to 2 feet,” Mahan said. “So it seemed like he was destined to win this week.”

Water splashed upward, and the ball settled 3 feet away. Mahan’s birdie putt just missed on the high side of the cup.

Back to the 18th for the third time in less than an hour, Haas avoided the gallery this time and went left of the green. Mahan again found the bunker, only this time he blasted out some 15 feet by the hole and missed. Haas chipped to 3 feet and holed it for the biggest putt of his young career.

He calmly pumped his fist toward the green and let out a huge sigh.

“I’m very fortunate,” Haas said. “This is pretty unbelievable.”

Haas was at No. 25 in the FedEx Cup, making him the lowest seed to capture golf’s biggest prize. He joins a distinguished list of FedEx Cup winners that includes Tiger Woods (twice), Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk.

This FedEx Cup took more math skills than usual, yet it turned out to be the most compelling.

In the final hour of the Tour Championship, eight players were still in the mix for the $10 million prize.

Webb Simpson, the top seed, closed with a 73 and finished alone in 22nd, making it possible for anyone who won the Tour Championship — except for Aaron Baddeley — to pass him.

Luke Donald, the No. 1 player in the world, made birdie on the 18th hole for a 69. He needed a three-way tie for second to capture the FedEx Cup, and could have done it had Mahan and Baddeley both made bogey on No. 18 in regulation. Both made par.

Donald wound up in a tie for third with K.J. Choi, who needed birdie on the 18th to get into the playoff. Choi shot 70.

Charles Howell III also needed a birdie to get into the playoff, but came up well left of the green on No. 18 and made bogey. Jason Day had a 30-foot birdie putt to join the playoff and gave it strong run. He missed a meaningless 4-footer coming back and made bogey.

It came down to Haas and Mahan, and an ending no one imagined. Haas hit two balls into the gallery, another into the lake, and still managed to win two trophies.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/7020092/bill-haas-outlasts-hunter-mahan-playoff-wins-tour-championship-fedex-cup