by Jeff Skinner
Every win on the PGA Tour is certainly earned. Brandt Snedeker certainly played well in his win at Torrey Pines at The Farmers Insurance Open. He shot the low round of the day with a five under par 67 and came from seven strokes back to be there when Kyle Stanley imploded.
Snedeker out lasted Stanley for the win and he got a good break on the second playoff hole when he was given a drop from a CBS television tower. He made a good chip then made his par putt. When the shell shocked Stanley missed his par putt Snedeker earned his third and most unlikely championship.
Snedeker played well indeed but late on Sunday afternoon it seemed that the breaks went his way. I am not saying he wasn’t a deserved winner but his tee ball on the second playoff hole was a poor shot. He overshot the green and his ball was stopped by the tower. Had there been no tower his ball would have traveled much further past the green as it was coming in very hot. As it was, he got the drop and made two good shots for par.
Now let’s rewind to Kyle Stanley as he stood over his third shot in the eighteenth fairway on the 72nd hole. He hit a wedge into the green that landed some ten to fifteen feet past the hole. At first it looked like the tournament was over right there. But the spin on the ball pulled it back, first past the pin and then into the rough. It kept moving and rolling until it passed through tens yards of rough and torturously slipped into the water.
Stanley had hit a good shot but with the rough shaved so closely it gave him no help. Yes, he still had a chance to finish off the tournament but his good shot into the green was met with an undeserved outcome. I understand the breaks of the game but it just seems unjust that a well struck shot could end with such a poor result. The eighteenth at Torrey has seen this before with balls rolling off the green into the pond. Maybe it’s time to rethink that setup. A good shot into the back of that green shouldn’t have a chance of getting wet.
Some will say well, those are the breaks of the game. And I understand that luck has something to do with where a ball ends up on occasion. But in this instance there is a bit of unfairness built into that setup. Anyone who watched Stanley’s shot get wet can see that.
Check out Stanley’s shot at the one minute mark.
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