Brandt Snedeker won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California, coming through a playoff against fellow American Kyle Stanley.
At one point during the final round Snedeker trailed Stanley by seven shots. Even after he had completed an excellent closing 67, Snedeker thought he was too far adrift as Stanley still led by three coming to the 72nd hole.
Stanley laid up to a perfect distance on the 18th fairway, leaving himself with a seemingly simple pitch. The shot landed nicely on the green but then spun back off the surface before tumbling down the bank in front of the green and into a water hazard.
Still though, Stanley looked favourite. He dropped in the semi-rough to eliminate the spin and pitched his fifth shot on to the back of the green. That left him with two putts from 45 feet to win. His approach putt came up some three feet short then he pulled the next effort past the cup. He tapped in for an eight and so ended regulation play tied with Snedeker on 16-under-par
Both men made birdie when they went back to the 18th for the first playoff hole. Then, on the second extra hole, Stanley missed a par putt from four feet and the title went to Snedeker.
"This one I kind of backed into," Snedeker said. "You never like winning a tournament that way. But you do like winning."
Stanley tried to remain positive after his calamitous finish.
"I'm kind of in shock right now," he said. "I know I'll be back but it's tough to swallow right now."
John Rollins finished alone in third place with Bill Haas and Cameron Tringale tied for fourth.
Farmers Insurance Open Torrey Pines, La Jolla, California Jan 26-29, purse $6,000,000, par 72
1 Brandt Snedeker (USA) 67 64 74 67 272 $1,080,000 2 Kyle Stanley (USA) 62 68 68 74 272 $648,000 3 John Rollins (USA) 70 65 68 71 274 $408,000 T4 Bill Haas (USA) 63 71 70 72 276 $264,000 T4 Cameron Tringale (USA) 67 72 66 71 276 $264,000 T6 John Huh (USA) 64 71 68 74 277 $208,500 T6 Hunter Mahan (USA) 69 65 74 69 277 $208,500 T8 Martin Flores (USA) 65 67 75 71 278 $162,000 T8 Justin Leonard (USA) 65 70 71 72 278 $162,000 T8 Rod Pampling (Aus) 64 75 68 71 278 $162,000 T8 D.A. Points (USA) 70 70 67 71 278 $162,000 T8 Jimmy Walker (USA) 73 65 70 70 278 $162,000
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage Where next? European Tour - Robert Rock wins in Abu Dhabi
