Farmers Insurance Open 2012: Kyle Stanley Crumbles, Brandt Snedeker Wins In Playoff

Kyle Stanley was having a heck of a week at the Farmers Insurance Open and in a way, it was still a heck of a week after it was all said and done. The reasons, however, were different: Stanley's first three rounds earned him a five-shot lead and 18-under par score while Sunday earned him a spot in golf tournament lore -- and not in a good way.

Stanley's day actually started out pretty well on Sunday as he played in the final group. He made the turn at three-under for the day and 21-under for the tournament, maintaining his big lead and only carding one bogey on the front nine. But his birdie on No. 9 would be his last of the day, and terrible things were ahead.

Stanley bogeyed the 11th and then the 12th, but still had a three-shot lead heading into the final hole. All was well, and all he had to do was get down in seven or less -- not a huge problem on a par five. He left himself a wedge into the green for his third shot, then promptly spun said wedge off the green and into the water. It was more bad luck than it seems, but still...

Video of Stanley's 18th hole can be found in the highlight package here.

The leader who looked calm and poised all week ended up recording an eight, turning a sure win into a not-so-sure playoff with Brandt Snedeker. On the second hole, Stanley had a relatively straight-forward putt for par to halve the hole and keep the sudden death playoff going. He missed it, capping one of the more painful meltdowns in recent memory.

The total damage for the day was $432,000, the difference between the first and second place winnings. He still made off well -- $648,000 is nothing to shake a stick at -- but one really bad hole cost him a whole lot of money.

The 2012 Farmers Insurance Open in La Jolla ended in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon. Kyle Stanley, who entered the final day of play with a five-stroke lead and at one point on Sunday led by seven, collapsed on the 18th hole and lost the eventual playoff against Brandt Snedeker, who took home the trophy.

Snedeker entered the final day in second place, six strokes behind Stanley as the golfers teed off on Sunday. Stanley still held a four-stroke lead when teeing off on the 18th hole, but lost a ball in the water and triple-putted to a triple-bogey and an 8 on the hole, leading to a playoff against Snedeker.

Stanley three-putted again on the second playoff hole, including missing a five-foot putt. As a result, Snedeker won the tournament, the second time he has won a PGA Tour event by overcoming a five-stroke deficit. Here are the highlights from Stanley's collapse and Snedeker's victory.

For more golf news, check out Waggle Room. For any updates on this tournament, check out our Farmers Insurance Open 2012 StoryStream. The full leaderboard can be found here.

The 2012 Farmers Insurance Open is about halfway through its final day and, barring a monumental collapse, it looks as though Kyle Stanley is going to end up atop the leaderboard when all is said and done. The third-year pro is six strokes ahead of his closest competition through eight holes on Day 4 of the tournament.

Stanley birdied three of the holes on the front-nine of the Torrey Pines course in La Jolla, Calif., with his lone misstep being a bogey on the eighth hole. It shouldn't be a problem, however, as the former Clemson Tigers golfer built up an impressive lead earlier in the tournament.

Brandt Snedeker is second in the tournament, but his 14-under is six strokes worse than Stanley. John Rollins, Justin Leonard and Cameron Tringale round out the Top 5 hoping to catch up to Stanley as the tournament comes to an end.

For more golf news, check out Waggle Room. For updates on this tournament, check out our Farmers Insurance Open 2012 StoryStream. The full leaderboard can be found here.

After three rounds of play in the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open, Kyle Stanley remains atop the leaderboard after following up his 68 round with another 68 on the third day, pushing his overall score to 18-under. Americans John Huh and John Rollins are the closest to him with a 13 under.

Here are some of the most important tee times and pairings for Sunday's final round. All times are Eastern, and you can catch TV coverage of the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open on CBS from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., or watch the event via the PGA Tour's free live online stream.

Torrey Pines (South Course) Tee #1

10:30 a.m.: Stanley, Kyle Huh, John Rollins, John

10:20 a.m.: Haas, Bill Bae, Sang-Moon Tringale, Cameron

Torrey Pines (South Course) Tee #10

8:30 a.m.: DiMarco, Chris Bradley, Keegan Vegas, Jhonattan

8:40 a.m.: Lunde, Bill English, Harris Levin, Spencer

For more golf news, check out Waggle Room. For updates on this tournament, check out our Farmers Insurance Open 2012 StoryStream. The full leaderboard can be found here.

Kyle Stanley fired a 62 in the first round to take a share of the lead at the Farmers Insurance Open, and he hasn't looked back since. He followed up his 10-under 62 with back-to-back 68s, setting himself up in prime-position to capture the championship at Torrey Pines on Sunday. At 18-under for the tournament, Stanley holds a five-shot lead, which feels insurmountable, considering the way he's been playing this week.

John Huh -- side note: awesome last name -- and John Rollins are tied for second at 13-under after they each carded 68s on Saturday. Bill Haas and Sang-Moon Bae share fourth-place honors at 12-under for the tournament. Jonas Blixt, Cameron Tingdale and Brandt Snedeker are at 11-under for the tournament, seven shots back of the lead.

The final round gets underway on Sunday as Stanley tries to maintain his lead and finish off the event.

Kyle Stanley came into Day 3 at the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open with a one stroke lead over Brandt Snedeker. Through five holes, he is still in sole possession of the top spot on the leaderboard, having expanded his lead to two shots over new No. 2 Martin Flores.

Snedeker has fallen back to third, shooting 1-over through five holes to put him at 12-under for the tournament and three back from the lead. Stanley and Flores are both at 1-under on the day, with Flores having played through six holes. Outside of a birdie on 2, Stanley has recorded par on every hole. He sits at 15-under for the tournament.

The biggest mover on the day has been Jonas Blixt of Sweden, who has shot 6-under through 12 holes, starting on the back nine. He has moved up 35 spots into a five-way tie for sixth place at Torrey Pines.

For more golf news, check out Waggle Room. For updates on this tournament, check out our Farmers Insurance Open 2012 StoryStream. The full leaderboard can be found here.

After two rounds of play in the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open, Kyle Stanley is atop the leaderboard after following up his 62 round with a 68 on the second day with a 14 under through the first two rounds. American Brand Snedeker is right behind with a 13 under after shooting a 64 in the second round of the Open picking up 15 spots on the leaderboard.

Here are some of the most important tee times and pairings for Friday's second round. All times are Eastern, and you can catch TV coverage of the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open on CBS from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., or watch the event via the PGA Tour's free live online stream.

Torrey Pines (South Course) Tee #10

7:55 a.m.: Bubba Watson, John Merrick, Cameron Beckman

8:15 a.m.: Andres Romero, Ernie Els, Charles Howell III

Torrey Pines (South Course) Tee #1

9:05 a.m.: Nick Watney, Chris Riley, Greg Chalmers

9:35 a.m.: Martin Flores, Hunter Mahan, Bill Haas

9:45 a.m.: Kyle Stanley, Brandt Snedeker, Sang-Moon Bae

For more golf news, check out Waggle Room. For updates on this tournament, check out our Farmers Insurance Open 2012 StoryStream. The full leaderboard can be found here.

Kyle Stanley posted a four-under 68 Friday to take sole possession of the lead after the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

Stanley, a first-round co-leader, finished 36 holes at 14-under 130 and missed the tournament record by a stroke. He leads by one shot over Brandt Snedeker, who fired an eight-under 64 on Friday.

Stanley played on the South Course at Torrey Pines, while Snedeker played the much easier North Course. Golfers played both courses over the first two days, but the South Course will host the weekend rounds.

Sang-Moon Bae and Martin Flores both shot rounds of five-under 67 on Friday at the South Course and share third at 12-under 132.

Reigning FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas carded a one-under 71 at the South Course and is tied for fifth with Hunter Mahan, who fired a seven-under 65 at the North Course. The pair is knotted at minus-10.

First-round co-leader Spencer Levin struggled to a four-over 76 at the South Course and fell into a tie for 20th at six-under par.

Phil Mickelson, a three-time champion who opened with a five-over 77 on Thursday, missed the cut despite shooting a four-under 68 on Friday. Mickelson finished at one-over par, which was three shots off the cut line.

For more golf news, check out Waggle Room. For updates on this tournament, check out our Farmers Insurance Open 2012 StoryStream. The full leaderboard can be found here.

The 2012 Farmers Insurance Open got off to a rocky start for Phil Mickelson, who fired a five-over 77 to finish 15 strokes off the lead shared by Spencer Levin and Kyle Stanley, who each shot 10-under 62 on the forgiving Torrey Pines North Course. But Mickelson will have his chance to play the more forgiving North Course on Friday in the second round, while Stanley and Levin will both head to the South Course.

Here are some of the most important tee times and pairings for Friday's second round. All times are Eastern, and you can catch TV coverage of the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open on The Golf Channel from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., or watch the event via the PGA Tour's free live online stream.

Torrey Pines (South Course) Tee #10

12:40 p.m.: Greg Chalmers, Gavin Coles, Spencer Levin

1:10 p.m.: Briny Baird, Tom Gillis, Kyle Stanley

Torrey Pines (South Course) Tee #1

12:50 p.m.: Dustin Johnson, Camilo Villegas, Gary Woodland

1:00 p.m.: Keegan Bradley, Bill Haas, Bubba Watson

Torrey Pines (North Course) Tee #10

12:00 p.m.: Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Nick Watney

Conditions were ripe for scoring on Thursday as the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open got underway at Torrey Pines. And judging from the leaderboard, the North Course was the place to be as the field flip-flops over the first two days -- those that played the South Course on Thursday get the easier task, at least in theory, on Friday. Of those near the top of the leaderboard, 16 were on the North Course, with just one playing South Course to open the tournament --Marc Turnesa, who sits four shots back.

Spencer Levin and Kyle Stanley each fired 10-under 62s on Thursday to surge to the top of the leaderboard. They share the lead by a stroke, with Bill Haas, who finished with a 9-under 63, in hot pursuit. Four players, including Vijay Singh, are two shots back of the lead after one round, sharing a tie for third-place at 8-under.

Among the other notables, Phil Mickelson was eaten alive by the South Course and sits at 5-over after an opening round 77. He's two shots out of dead last, an honor captured by Tommy Gainey, who also played the South Course. Bubba Watson is tied for 37th after a first-round 69 on the North Course.

The 2012 Farmers Insurance Open is a bit of an undercard in the golf world this week — some Tiger Woods character is playing his first tournament of 2012 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in Dubai — but that doesn't mean it won't be an entertaining tournament. It might be more entertaining if the 2011 duel between Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson recurs.

Watson shot a final round 67 to beat Mickelson by two strokes at the Torrey Pines course in La Jolla in 2011, and did so with Mickelson in his final group. The two talented Americans won't be in a group together on Thursday, but could obviously play themselves into contention and wind up grouped together by the weekend.

There are a lot of good players in the field, though, and the tournament could be wide open, as the only player in the top 10 of the current World Golf Rankings teeing it up at the Farmers Insurance Open is No. 9 Dustin Johnson.

Here are some of the most important tee times and pairings for Thursday's first round. All times are Eastern, and you can catch TV coverage of the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open on The Golf Channel from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., or watch the event via the PGA Tour's free live online stream.

Torrey Pines (South Course) Tee #1

11:50 a.m.: Anthony Kim, D.A. Points, Jhonattan Vegas

1:00 p.m.: Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy, Justin RoseRose, Justin Els, Ernie Ogilvy, Geoff

1:10 p.m.: Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Nick Watney

Torrey Pines (South Course) Tee #10

12:40 p.m.: Ricky Barnes, J.J. Henry, Boo Weekley

Torrey Pines (North Course) Tee #10

11:40 a.m.: Bud Cauley, John Mallinger, Rickie Fowler

11:50 a.m.: Dustin Johnson, Camilo Villegas, Gary Woodland

12:00 p.m.: Keegan Bradley, Bill Haas, Bubba Watson