Stanley bounces back, gets first tour win
What a difference a week made for Kyle Stanley. Stanley held a five-stroke lead over John Rollins and John Huh after 54 holes at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open but shot a 74 and wound up losing in a playoff to Brandt Snedeker on the second extra hole. Snedeker began the final round at Torrey Pines seven strokes back of Stanley and was in the third-to-last group (threesomes) of the day. Stanley began Sunday’s round eight shots back of leader Spencer Levin and was, ironically, also in the third-to-last group (threesomes) of the day.Levin shot 75 in the final round of the Phoenix Open and that opened the door for Stanley to quickly erase the nightmare of a week ago.
Stanley became the first player since David Toms to lose a playoff one week and then win the following week on tour. Toms lost a playoff to K.J. Choi at The Players Championship last May and rebounded the following week with a one-stroke victory over Charlie Wi at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
A comparison of Stanley’s final round the past two weeks: Farmers Insurance Open - 2-over 74, 5/14 fairways, 10/18 greens and 27 putts.
At the Phoenix Open - 6-under 65, 6/14 fairways, 16/18 greens and 30 putts.
Stanley hit only one of seven fairways on the back nine Sunday but managed to hit eight of nine greens. He played the final nine holes in 3-under 33.
His comeback matches the third-largest in Tour history:
10 strokes Paul Lawrie 1999 British Open
9 strokes Stewart Cink 2004 MCI Heritage
8 strokes Jack Burke, Jr. 1956 Masters Tournament
8 strokes Ken Venturi 1959 Los Angeles Open
8 strokes Mark Lye 1983 Bank of Boston Classic
8 strokes Hal Sutton 1985 St. Jude Memphis Classic
8 strokes Chip Beck 1990 Buick Open
8 strokes Scott Simpson 1998 Buick Invitational
8 strokes Craig Stadler 2003 B.C. Open
8 strokes Kyle Stanley 2012 Phoenix Open
Stanley’s comeback is the largest in tournament history:
8 strokes Kyle Stanley 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open
7 strokes Sandy Lyle 1988 Phoenix Open
Stanley also becomes the first player to win this tournament in his first start at TPC Scottsdale since J.B. Holmes in 2006.
Stanley becomes the 10th player to earn their first career title in this event:
1954 Ed Furgol
1965 Rod Funseth
1966 Dudley Wysong
1976 Bob Gilder
1980 Jeff Mitchell
1987 Paul Azinger
1990 Tommy Armour III
1998 Jesper Parnevik
2006 J.B. Holmes
2012 Kyle Stanley
Lowest final-round scores by a tournament winner at the Phoenix Open:
63 Mark Calcavecchia 1992
63 Vijay Singh 2003
64 Aaron Baddeley 2007
65 Hunter Mahan 2010
65 Kyle Stanley 2012
Stanley’s 65 Sunday is his lowest final-round score on tour. Stanley has made 31 cuts in 44 total starts (including this week) and his previous best was 66 at the 2009 Travelers Championship (-4) and the 2011 John Deere Classic (-5).
SPENCER LEVIN
Levin posted a 4-over 75 to wind up solo third. Levin started the day with an six-stroke lead over his nearest challenger, Webb Simpson. This matches the largest lead lost on tour with 18 holes to play:
6 Bobby Cruickshank, 1928 Florida Open Gay Brewer, 1969 Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic Hal Sutton, 1983 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic Greg Norman, 1996 Masters Tournament Sergio Garcia, 2005 Wachovia Championship
Spencer Levin, 2012 Phoenix Open
Levin hit 7 of 14 fairways, 10 of 18 greens and had 32 putts on his round.
BEN CRANE
This was Crane’s seventh start at TPC Scottsdale and his second top-10 finish. He tied for fourth in 2008.
Crane now has three top-10 finishes in four starts this year. He started the year with a T9 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and followed up with a T8 at the Humana Challenge. He missed the cut at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open.
BRENDAN STEELE
Steele matched his career-best score with a 7-under 64 Sunday. The only other time he has carded a 64 (6-under) came in the second round of the 2011 Travelers Championship.
Steele seems to produce his best results on TPC courses. His bogey-free 64 moved him up to a T5 finish, his fourth career top-10 in 31 starts. During his rookie season last year, he had three of his best finishes on TPC courses:
1st 2011 Valero Texas Open TPC San Antonio
T10 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship TPC Boston
T13 2011 Travelers Championship TPC River Highlands
T5 2012 Phoenix Open TPC Scottsdale
KEVIN NA
Na continued his impressive play at TPC Scottsdale with a 6-under 65 in the final round to move up to a T5 finish. This is the seventh start in this event for Na and his fourth top-10:
2005 T2 2008 T4 2009 3rd 2012 T5
GARY WOODLAND
Woodland had a pair of eagles today on the back nine. Woodland rolled in an eagle putt of 27 feet 6 inches on the par-5, 13th hole and then added another eagle putt of 7 feet, 1 inch at the 315-yard, par-4, 17th hole. Woodland shot a 5-under 66.
MARK WILSON
Defending champion Mark Wilson finished T19 in his attempt to become the first player to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open in back-to-back years since Johnny Miller in 1974-75.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
The last 12 champions of the Waste Management Phoenix Open (dating to 2001) have combined for just two bogeys on the par-3, 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale with Kyle Stanley playing the hole at even par (four pars). Phil Mickelson (1996) is the last tournament champion to play the 16th hole above par for the week (double-bogey, par, par, birdie).
There were seven past tournament champions in the field this week. Here is how they finished:
2011 Mark Wilson T19
2009 Kenny Perry T65
2008 J.B. Holmes (2006) T45
2007 Aaron Baddeley T65
2005 Phil Mickelson (1996) T26
2003 Vijay Singh (1995) W/D
2001 Mark Calcavecchia (1989, 1992) M/C
All six former Arizona State Sun Devils made the cut this week:
Phil Mickelson T26
Matt Jones T40
Jeff Quinney T26
Billy Mayfair T55
Chez Reavie T45
Pat Perez T19
Bogey-free rounds:
R1: Kevin Na (66), Jason Dufner (64), Bo Van Pelt (65), Chad Campbell (71 – 18 pars)
R2: Spencer Levin (63), Charles Howell III (68), Martin Flores (68)
R3: Ben Crane (68)l, Jeff Maggert (68), Sunghoon Kang (69),
R4: Kyle Stanley (65), Brendan Steele (64), George McNeill (68), Heath Slocum (68)
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