Scottsdale surprise: Stanley wins Phoenix Open with miracle comeback

Added by AHN on February 5, 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Category: Sports
Topics: Sports

Tom Edrington – AHN Sports Reporter

Scottsdale, AZ, United States (AHN Sports) – Kyle Stanley came up with the greatest recovery in PGA Tour history Sunday when he came from eight shots back to win the Phoenix Open.

Stanley came from the depths of despair seven days ago when he led by six shots with nine holes to play and blew a three-shot lead at the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines and eventually lost a playoff to Brandt Snedeker.

There would be no meltdown for Stanley on Sunday. Instead, it was the long-hitting Stanley, who forged a final round 65 and took advantage of a back nine meltdown by Spencer Levin, who led by six shots going into the finale at the TPC Scottsdale. Stanley’s magnificent round got him to 15-under par, 269 and he beat surging Ben Crane by a shot and Levin by two.

The win was Stanley’s first and no player has managed to do what he did, lose in the manner he did then come back the next week with a rally from eight shots back.

“It feels great,” Stanley said as tears welled in his eyes. “I want to thank my mom and dad, they’ve done so much for me, I’m speechless,” he said, recalling how his family rallied around him during the horrible moments after he lost last week in such a tragic finish.

This time, it was Levin who felt the despair but it was a gradual process where the tournament slipped away from him over the final nine.

Levin’s lead increased to seven shots early in the day but on the back nine, Stanley surged and things started coming apart for Levin. He suffered bogeys at the 11th and 12th holes then failed to birdie the easy par five 13th. He fought back with a 12-foot birdie putt at the 14th but found disaster at the par five 15th. He drove into some cactus, used a putter to hit out sideways then fatted his third shot into the water. He would end up with a double-bogey seven to transfer control of the tournament to Stanley.

Stanley, who birdied 11, 13 and 14, made par at 15 then saved par with a great up-and-down at the 16th then salvaged an impressive par at the 17th from underneath a cactus. At 18, he launched yet another huge drive and hit a sand wedge from 108 yards to 17 feet and two-putted to post the day’s low round.

“It’s great, you need to accept the fact that there are ups and downs,” Stanley said as he waited for Levin to finish. “So many people I didn’t know reached out to me over the past week. I’m fortunate to have a great team around me. I hit it great last week and hit it great this week. I played my game and had a short memory.”

Levin will remember what could have been. He was visibly nervous all day and made some par saving putts that kept him in the lead at the turn but it all fell in on him after that with bogeys at the 11th and 12th then the double-bogey desert disaster at the 15th. The back nine 39 that gave him 75 left him at 13-under, two back of Stanley and a shot behind runnerup Crane.

It was deja-vu of a different kind.

It was the best for Stanley, the worst for Levin.

Stanley did what has never been accomplished. He blew a three-shot lead on the final hole last week, then came from eight back Sunday.

It was simply Stanley’s Scottsdale redemption.