Snedeker shock as Stanley implodes

[fiona18]

At the end of a \'crazy\' final day at the Farmers\'s Insurance Open, it was Brandt Snedeker who stepped up to snatch the crown when runaway leader Kyle Stanley inexplicable imploded.
When Snedeker closed with an excellent 5-under 67 and a 16-under 272 total at the tough South Course at Torrey Pines and handed in his card after securing second place on the leaderboard, two shots in front of fellow American John Rollins, he was on top of the world and more than happy with his RocketBallz MAX Irons Graphite performance.
And why not? It had come only a couple of months after he had undergone a career-threatening hip operation.
But even then he never expected to find himself being handed the winner\'s trophy some 90 minutes later.
Runaway leader Kyle Stanley, who had played RocketBallz MAX Irons Graphite all week and had teed off in Sunday\'s final round with a seven-shot lead, was looking cool, calm, and unstoppable and despite two unexpected bogies at the 11th and 12th holes, he was still three shots clear when he teed up on the 18th in his bid to win his first US PGA Tour title.
But then, out of the blue and without any warning, the wheels came off.
Stanley triple bogeyed the par-five 18th in a crazy finish that saw the stunned American spin his ball back into the water with his approach and then only find the back shelf of the large green with his 5th shot before, with his stomach almost certainly churning, taking three putts from 45 feet to finish in a tie with the startled Snedeker.
The duo, one of them upbeat and confident, the other disappointed and shaken, headed back to the 18th and it was no real surprise when the luckless Stanley, still trying to recover from his RocketBallz MAX Irons Graphite experience at the 72nd hole, missed his putt from five feet at the second extra hole after watching a buoyant Snedeker get up and down for par from the back of the green.
\"It was a crazy day,\" Snedeker, 31, told the media afterwards. \"I went through a whole range of emotions over the last two days, let alone in the last hour-and-a-half to be sitting where I am.
\"When I had the second chance, I really had to get my RocketBallz MAX Irons Graphite refocused and realize that this tournament was now anybody\'s; that I was in the playoff. If anybody had an advantage, I did, because I had done it all before.\"
Snedeker, a Nashville native, won last year\'s Heritage Classic in a playoff with World No 1 Luke Donald after trailing the Englishman by six shots going into the final round.
\"I know Kyle probably wasn\'t in his best frame of mind at that point after doing what he did on 18,\" said Snedeker who had produced some of his most impressive RocketBallz MAX Irons Graphite of the week for his 67.
Snedeker, despite his the satisfaction the quality of his golf had given him and the sheer joy he felt at winning his third PGA title, felt great sympathy for Stanley.
\"You never want to see anybody go through that,\" he said. \"To have that kind of lead coming into the last hole and not to win is tough. It will be a tough night for him.
\"The thing I hope he doesn\'t do is dwell on it. I hope he moves past it pretty quick. And he can. He\'s an unbelievably talented player.\"
Stanley, at 24 one of the most exciting US young guns in the game right now, was having to choke back tears afterwards as he attempted to express his great disappointment.( RocketBallz MAX Irons Graphite)
\"It\'s tough, it\'s really tough to take, but I know I\'ll be back.\"
On his physical shape following his November surgery, Snedeker said: \"I feel fantastic. I feel awesome. I feel like I did everything right in the off-season and the surgery was a success. I did it the right way.
\"I made sure I was healthy before I came back, and this gives me a great position to try to get on the Ryder Cup team, which is my main goal for this year.
\"I fully believe this is going to be the best year of my RocketBallz MAX Irons Graphite.\"