Sorry for Stanley, Snedeker dismisses notion of "tainted" Torrey Pines win

There may be no crying in baseball, but when you blow a three-shot lead on the final hole on Sunday in a PGA Tour event with a triple-bogey eight, and photos of the suddenly invalid winner’s check made out to you goes viral, you may be permitted a few tears.

So when Kyle Stanley welled up after losing on the second playoff hole to Brandt Snedeker following an epic meltdown on the 72nd hole in last week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, who could not empathize with the golfer who watched his chances at a first tour win disappear as fast as his third shot to 18 found the water? Certainly the guy who bested Stanley yesterday could relate better than most, but he was not about to label his triumph tarnished in any way, as one reporter suggested.

"It's not a tainted win," said Snedeker, who knows a thing or two about coughing up a lead at a bad time, having briefly held an edge in the last round of the 2008 Masters only to give it back with nine bogeys on his scorecard. "Winning out here is hard to do.

Kyle Stanley won't be cashing the winner's check after losing the Farmers insurance Open to Brandt Snedeker in a playoff (Photo: geoffshackleford.com)

"There have been a lot of guys that have had trouble closing out," Snedeker noted. "And I'm sure Kyle will end up winning plenty of golf tournaments in his career. He's got that kind of talent. He'll look back on this one day and realize it's probably a good thing for him."

Snedeker, who finished tied with Stanley at 16-under in regulation on this Sunday, was not ashamed to say he needed consoling after that Masters finale four years ago.

"I don't think anybody should feel embarrassed about showing their emotions," Snedeker told reporters. "If [Kyle] didn't show his emotions, I'd be a little shocked. I'm sure that was a pretty tough way to lose a golf tournament. He's going to have a tough night. There is no way around it. But he can be better from it.

"The thing I hope he doesn't do is dwell on it," Snedeker said. "I hope he moves past it pretty quick."

Snedeker, who drained a five-foot par putt on the second playoff hole for the win, was gracious in victory.

"You never want to see anybody go through that. I don't care who it is, not even your worst enemy on the planet," Snedeker 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....I hope he does not beat himself up too much over this. He should learn from it. I wouldn't be surprised if he's contending again really soon."

Stanley could not mask his disappointment but said he would not let the outcome get him down for long.

"It’s tough. I mean, it’s really tough to take," Stanley told reporters. "I know I'll be back, I'm not worried about that. It's just tough to swallow right now.

"I just need to be patient" he added. "One of my goals coming into this year was to just keep putting myself in position, and I'll do that."