Stanley Steamer: Kyle Stanley rolls up five shot lead at Farmers

Added by AHN on January 28, 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Category: Golf, Sports
Topics: golf, Sports

Tom Edrington – AHN Sports Reporter

La Jolla, CA, United States (AHN Sports) – Kyle Stanley looked like he might win his first PGA Tour event last summer at the John Deere Classic but two miraculous shots by Steve Stricker left him on the outside looking in.

There’s no Steve Stricker at Torrey Pines and Kyle Stanley has been most impressive through 54 holes at the Farmers Insurance Open. Stanley’s 4-under-par 68 on Saturday helped him build an impressive five-shot lead with 18 holes to play.

Stanley will take that lead over veteran John Rollins and rookie John Huh into Sunday’s final round. He’s six shots clear of FedEx champ Bill Haas and rookie San Moon Bae. Rollins and Huh shot 68s while Haas put together a 2-under 70.

Bae had the day’s strangest outing. He was five over through five holes and shot 40 on the front nine and looked totally out of contention. But it was an impressive run of four straight birdies to start the back nine that got him to even par, where he would finish his day.

Stanley’s formula this week has been pretty simple. He’s been blasting his drives in the center of fairways, hitting greens and simply making more birdies than the rest of the field.

“I’m trying to play boring golf,” he said. “Hit fairways, hit greens, make a few putts.”

He had five birdies on his round and just a single bogey. That came at the par four 12th when his second shot flew just over the green and landed in some tangled rough. His third shot was a good one, within five feet of the hole but he missed his par putt.

Otherwise, it was just another solid day for Stanley as he seeks his first PGA Tour victory.