Bobby B. and Kyle at the Open Championship, a week after the John Deere Classic disappointment

Dustin Johnson and Bobby Brown are among the many who feel badly for Kyle Stanley’s untimely implosion at the Farmers Insurance Open last Sunday. Stanley entered the last hole in regulation with a three-shot lead before imploding with a triple-bogey and then eventually losing in a playoff against Brandt Snedeker.

During the difficult last few days, Stanley has received an outpouring of messages and support from family, friends, fellow players, including Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker, who hit an incredible shot and followed it with a great putt for birdie to beat Stanley at the 2011  John Deere Classic, and even an unexpected text from the Gonzaga men’s basketball coach, Mark Few. (continue reading…)

Stanley coming to grips

Kyle Stanley made a smart decision and got in front of the story early in the week at the WM Phoenix Open, so he could move on and redirect his focus to the present. He agreed to face the press on Tuesday morning at TPC Scottsdale, and bravely answered the inevitable questions about his shocking collapse on the par-5 18th at Torrey Pines in the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open this past Sunday.

The 24-year-old from Gig Harbor, Washington, handled it like a pro, saying all the right things and staying dry-eyed, unlike Sunday when he understandably had trouble holding back emotions. (continue reading…)

Snedeker: Did I just win? I mean, I'll take it!

Brandt Snedeker began the final round trailing Kyle Stanley by seven shots. He made a run and shot a solid five-under 67. When he signed his scorecard, he thought he was done for the day. He was in the media center for his post-tournament presser at the Farmers Insurance Open and making his opening comments.

“I knew I needed to shoot something low, and got off to a little bit of a slow start, and made some birdies around the turn to get things kicking into gear,” said Snedeker, who finished T8 the week before at the Humana Challenge. “But I was too far back. Kyle had too big a lead.” (continue reading…)

Stanley and Waldman: WTF just happened?

Wow — that was the first thing I blurted out, shaking my head in disbelief. Most of you also probably found it hard to find the right words to describe what we watched on the last hole in regulation at Torrey Pines in the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

I mean, did I really just see Kyle Stanley, who started the day with a five-shot lead and extended it to seven with 11 to play, make a triple-bogey on the relatively straightforward par-5 18th? Did he seriously take six shots after blasting his drive 300 yards down the middle of the fairway? Which then forced a mind-blowing playoff against Brandt Snedeker, who won on the second extra hole.

(continue reading…)

Daly ran into some trouble in the "native area"

John Daly appears to have taken a lot of strokes on the par-4 No. 4 during the second round of the John Deere Classic. Initially, on PGATour.com it showed Daly posting an 18, but since then, it’s been changed to an 11.

The score is unofficial until Tour officials meet with Daly and his caddie after the round. (continue reading…)

Na in the woods, not the Blair Witch Project

I know you’re totally over Kevin Na’s trip in the woods, but the cultural implications are pretty interesting. Just one hole and 16 strokes turned Na nearly into a legend (and rid of his reputation as merely a really, really slow golfer). I mean, it’s not often that someone other than Tiger or John Daly move the needle and receive national coverage — Na was on SportsCenter, featured on the front page of the New York Times and shown on the Jumbotron at an Oakland A’s vs. Detroit Tigers game! Naturally, we discussed the phenomenon over at PGA Tour Confidential.

By the way, sorry for the lack of posts yesterday. I had a rather excruciating journey to Hilton Head and I busted my laptop in the process. Note to self: remember to completely close the cap on a nearly full bottle of soda before putting it in your bag that has your laptop, iPad and every other electronic device you own — it creates quite a mess (not to mention a headache that I now have to deal with). Anyway! If you haven’t seen it already, here’s an excerpt from our roundtable... (continue reading…)

For what it’s worth, Kevin Na took 14, nope, 15 — wait, 16! — strokes pretty quickly on the par-4 9th at TPC San Antonio. Known for his deliberate pace of play, Na sped things up when he got lost in the woods during the first round of the Valero Texas Open. He pushed his first drive into the junk, declared it unplayable, and went back to the tee only to knock it in the same place. After thrashing it out, including hitting himself and whiffing it, he carded 16 strokes.

Good news is Na had a sense of humor about it, turning to his caddie and saying, “How are we going to count all those shots?” Even better news? Na happened to be mic’d up for the meltdown as Golf Channel’s spotlight player. (continue reading…)