Gig Harbor’s Kyle Stanley soaking in first Masters
Apr 4, 2012, 6:51 AM | Updated: 10:08 am
Gig Harbor's Kyle Stanley is playing in his first Masters this week, having earned a spot in golf's first major of the season by winning the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. (AP)
(AP)
In between tee shots and tricky putts, Kyle Stanley is pausing to smell the fresh azaleas nestled below the Georgia pines. The 24-year-old from Gig Harbor, Wash. will savor every breath of his first Masters at fabled Augusta National Golf Club.
“It’s a beautiful place. The Masters is probably the only event I watched every year as a kid growing up,” Stanley said during a press conference on Monday. “To be able to be here and be part of the tournament is pretty special.”
Stanley earned a spot in golf’s first major of the season by winning in come-from-behind fashion at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. That was one week after his well publicized final-round meltdown in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Stanley is convinced the emotional roller coaster prepared him for bigger golf prizes ahead.
“In San Diego, I felt the pressure and didn’t handle it very well. The following week I felt it again and handled it better,” he said. “This is the Masters, so Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, you’re going to feel some pressure. I hope to draw on those past experiences and draw some positives from it.”
Stanley’s work ethic is well chronicled. He attended Clemson University in South Carolina partly because the school had a lighted driving range. Stanley sometimes hit buckets of balls at three in the morning.
This level of dedication wasn’t always there, Stanley admits, not even when he was a star golfer at Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, Wash.
“When I was 15, I missed the cut at the state high school tournament in Spokane,” he said. “During the five-hour drive back, I remember talking with my dad, and he said if you want to be one of the best players in the world, you’re going to have to work at it.”
Stanley tees off in Round 1 of the Masters Thursday morning with two other up-and-coming stars: Fed-Ex Cup champion Bill Haas and Australian Jason Day. Thanks to his college golf matches, it’s not the first time Stanley has played Augusta National.
“You have to know where to put the ball into each pin,” he said. “If you’re on the wrong side it can be very difficult. It will definitely be the key this week.”
From Amen Corner to the Butler Cabin and the Green Jacket, no question Kyle Stanley will have life-long memories from his first Masters.
