Cruel finish for Gig Harbor golfer Kyle Stanley
Jan 30, 2012, 7:44 AM | Updated: 10:16 am
Pressure can do terrible things to people. Golfer Kyle Stanley from Gig Harbor suffered a cruel playoff loss this weekend, when for all the world it appeared he was on his way to a dominating golf victory.
The 24-year-old played extremely well through the first three rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines near San Diego. After a birdie, birdie start Sunday he led the field by seven whopping strokes.
Despite some stumbles on the back nine, Stanley was still in position to clinch his first victory on the PGA tour. He came to the 18th hole needing only a double-bogey 7 to win.
Instead, disaster struck.
Stanley hit a perfect tee shot, then elected to lay up short, giving himself an 80-yard wedge shot to the green. His third shot came in low and hot, and the ball spun off the bank, all the way back into the pond.
Playing his fifth stroke, Stanley pitched to 45 feet above the hole. His first putt came up 4 feet short. One more shot and he would be the winner. Instead he pulled the putt left and was headed to a playoff against a stunned and surprised Brandt Snedeker.
To Stanley’s credit he regrouped in the playoff and made birdie on the same 18th hole. But on the second extra hole, the par three 16th hole, Snedeker sank his par putt and Kyle missed his.
Soon, the shock fully set in. Stanley was choked up with emotion throughout a difficult post-tournament press conference.
“Looking back, I don’t really know what I was thinking,” Stanley said.
“Number 18 is not a hard golf hole. I could probably play it a thousand times and never make an 8.”
Stanley’s errant shots cost him in the bank account and future opportunities. While he earned $648,000 for second place, he could have won $1 million and earned a guaranteed spot in the Masters.
The Bellarmine Prep grad had a quiet Sunday night dinner with this family who had flown from Washington state in hopes of sharing his finest golf moment. Instead, they were there to support and console him in a difficult life lesson.
