Stanley vows to bounce back
Stanley vows to bounce back after suffering Torrey Pines heartache
By Paul Higham Twitter: @SkySportsPaulH. Last Updated: January 30, 2012 12:22pm
Kyle Stanley: Insists he will be back in the reckoning
Kyle Stanley insists he will be back despite suffering a heart-breaking final hole meltdown at Torrey Pines that cost him the Farmers Insurance Open title.
The 24-year-old American had made serene progress on Sunday, holding a seven-shot lead over the field at one stage.
Standing on the tee of the 18th, Stanley held a three-shot lead over Brandt Snedeker. But after laying up at the par five, his third shot agonisingly spun back from pin high to finish in the water.
After taking a penalty drop, Stanley also missed a five-foot putt to card a triple-bogey eight and drop into a play-off.
Snedeker then took the title at the second play-off hole, leaving a dejected Stanley struggling for words after watching what would have been a maiden PGA Tour title slip out of his grasp.
Meltdown
He insisted, though, that he would not let the meltdown affect him for the rest of the season and said he would be back challenging for titles again.
"It's really tough to take right now. But I know I'll be back," said Stanley. "I'm not worried about that.
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"I just need to be patient. One of my goals coming into this year was to keep putting myself in position and I'll do that."
As for the shot that rolled back into water, he added: "I tried to lay it up close. I thought I had a pretty good shot but it just had too much spin. Looking back, I don't really know what I was thinking.
"It's really a pretty straightforward par-five. I could probably play it a thousand times and never make an eight."
