Chopra first aced the par-3 seventh hole, which played to 103 yards Monday. Chopra holed out with a PING Tour-S Rustique 50-degree wedge. Ten holes later, at the 17th, Chopra made an ace from 176 yards out with a PING S56 7-iron.

The aces were Chopra’s 14th and 15th in his career.

The Swede has made seven previous starts at the AT&T with a high finish of T5 in 2006. 

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In our latest roundtable, six PGATOUR.COM experts have weighed in with their answers. While each expert expects Tiger to win this year, none expect him to do it this week at Pebble Beach. Click here for roundtable.

Now it’s your turn. Is this the week Tiger ends his TOUR drought? Or will it be at another tournament … and when?

Ask D.A. Points a question

Got a question for D.A. Points? Send us your questions for Direct Connect — PGATOUR.COM’s newest video franchise that gets you closer to a PGA TOUR pro each week — and host John Swantek might use it when he chats this week with Points, who is the defending champ at this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Points was also the partner of actor Bill Murray, who won the Pro-Am portion of the tournament last year for the first time since he began playing in the event in 1992. Points and Murray will renew their partnership this week.

Just fill out the form below and you might get an answer from Points.

Direct Connect video will be posted each Wednesday afternoon on PGATOUR.COM

Matchups Game makes its 2012 debut

The PGA TOUR is introducing an enhanced version of its Matchups Game on Facebook that was introduced last year. Beginning with this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and running through the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola on Sept. 17-23, the game will give users more flexibility and will continue to award fans with weekly prizes.

New this year is a Grand Prize drawing that will award one lucky fan a shopping spree of $1,500 at Shop.PGATOUR.COM. Fans enter the Grand Prize drawing based on in-game achievements such as getting perfect picks in a week, playing five weeks in a row, referring friends to play, and reaching certain point goals. Additional weekly and season-long prizes will be awarded. No purchase is necessary to play.

“Our fans told us how much they enjoyed playing and offered some great suggestions on how to enhance the game,” said Scott Gutterman, PGA TOUR Executive Producer for New Media. “The 2012 Matchups game gives users more flexibility and control to create their own challenges with their friends. And, we knew having mobile accessibility was important.”

In addition to making picks, fans can create custom challenges to compete against their friends, co-workers and fellow fans.

Participants can make their picks beginning noon Monday of most tournament weeks and until 6 a.m. ET Thursday. Log on to the PGA TOUR Facebook page and click the Matchups link to see the Official Rules and get started. From there, enter your gamer name and you’re in.

GO TO FACEBOOK PAGE TO PLAY MATCHUPS GAME

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUPS

Tiger Woods vs. Dustin JohnsonTwo superstars with winning resumes at Pebble BeachPhil Mickelson vs. Nick WatneyCalifornia natives looking for a win on "home" turfAaron Baddeley vs. Geoff OgilvyBattle of Australian Presidents Cup teammatesVijay Singh vs. Jim FurykThe 2008 FedExCup champ vs. the 2010 FedExCup champIan Poulter vs. Ryan MooreTwo of the PGA TOUR’s snazziest dressers

Pebble Beach interview schedule

PGATOUR.COM will be streaming pre-tournament interviews from the media center at Pebble Beach. Here is the schedule:

Tuesday, Feb. 7D.A. Points — 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET)Tiger Woods — Following practice round

Wednesday, Feb. 8Padraig Harrington — 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET)Davis Love III — 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET)Hunter Mahan — TBD

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Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Kyle Stanley and the 'Golf Boys' make the cut this week.

Stanley eyes possible WGC debut

Kyle Stanley may be changing some travel plans in the very near future.

Not only has he earned a spot in his first Masters thanks to Sunday’s redemptive come-from-behind win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Stanley may also get to make his World Golf Championships debut later this month.

With the victory at TPC Scottsdale, Stanley moved from 87th to 52nd in the world. Should he remain in the top 64  as of next Monday, Feb. 13, the former Clemson standout will make the  field for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

The Accenture Match Play Championship will be played Feb. 22-26 at the Ritz-Carlton Gold Club in Marana, Ariz.

Stanley has two ways to make the field for next month’s World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, too. He needs to either remain in the top 10 in the FedExCup standings — Stanley currently is No. 1 — as of March 5 or move into the 50 in the world in the rankings as of Feb. 27 or March 5.

Stanley is not playing this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am but he is expected to play the following week at the Northern Trust Open. The Cadillac Championship will be played March 8-11 at TPC Blue Monster at Doral.

Stanley ranked 143rd in the world at the start of the 2012 season. He came from eight strokes off the pace to beat Spencer Levin on Sunday and win his first PGA TOUR event – a week after squandering a five-stroke advantage in the final round at Torrey Pines and losing to Brandt Snedeker in a playoff.

The last player to effect such a dramatic turnaround was David Toms when he won the 2011 Crowne Plaza Colonial. The previous Sunday. Toms was beaten by K.J. Choi at THE PLAYERS Championship seven days earlier.

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The Baton of Pain tends to stick with some players like adhesive – sometimes bonded by a superglue that holds on forever.

Best I can tell, despite riches and fame, Greg Norman has a permanent spot in his locker for the 1996 Masters Baton of Pain. And setting aside his publicly cheerful face for the last 13 years, Jean van de Valde may take the 1999 British Open Baton of Pain to old age.

More From Brian Murphy John Cena to serve as honorary starter for Daytona 500 Feb 6, 2012 Defending champ UConn in danger of missing NCAA tourney Feb 6, 2012 Rock reminds us Tigers still in comeback mode Jan 30, 2012 West is best for Wilson after Humana win Jan 23, 2012

The Baton of Pain is a yoke, an albatross, a burden.

It’s that inescapable feeling of pain, shame and nakedness that only golf can bring. It’s the sensation of a blown lead on a Sunday, a championship lost, glory fleeing the other way just as you near it.

The golf gods didn’t just hand the Baton of Pain to Stanley two Sundays ago at Torrey Pines: They clubbed him over the head with it. Stanley watched his chance at a first-ever PGA Tour win dissolve in agony. The five-shot lead he teed off with on Sunday was reduced to a three-shot lead on the 72nd hole, but surely young Stanley – 24, big-hitting, good-looking, full of promise from Clemson via the state of Washington – wouldn’t make a triple bogey on 18.

Except, he did.

When Stanley lost in a playoff to Brandt Snedeker, most golf observers figured that, as talented as Stanley is, the searing feeling of loss that accompanies such a meltdown would mean he would need time to heal. His career arc would be delayed and there would be no telling when we’d hear from Stanley again.

The Baton of Pain was his, that is, until Stanley did the unthinkable and flippin’ won the Phoenix Open the very next week.

What a story! Resilience, pride, talent, moxie and a general disdain for the Baton of Pain all rolled into one.

Not only did Stanley, who started eight shots back of Spencer Levin’s lead Sunday morning, shoot a bogey-free, six-birdie 65 in the final round. But also he did it knowing that just seven days earlier, every reason he ever had to feel confident on the golf course had been dumped into a billabong, soaking wet.

After making his move Sunday with birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 8 and 11, Stanley had to know Levin was wobbling, shooting a one-over 36 on the front nine. He had made up five shots and was in the hunt.

On the one hand, redemption – sweet, unthinkable redemption – lay just a few well-struck, well-played golf shots away. On the other hand, the Baton of Pain lay in his golf bag, in the zipper pocket next to a banana, an energy bar and his wristwatch.

So when Stanley sensed the energy and still made birdies on Nos. 13 and 14, and stayed dry on the diabolically and potentially wet holes of 15, 17 and 18, he became a player who had no room for the Baton of Pain in his life.

The tears that welled in his eyes when informed of assured victory spoke as much. Who couldn’t be touched by the kid’s comeback? Just seven days earlier, he earned “Broadcast moment of the week” honors in this column for his stunned I-don’t-know-what-to-say reaction on CBS after he lost the playoff.

Seven days later, he told CBS he was speechless again. That’s because he was breathing deeply and brushing away tears. When he did surface for air, he thanked his mom and dad. At that point, he may not have been the only one misting up.

Nick Faldo called it “big, deep, powerful, positive stuff.”

There’s another way to put it: Baton of Pain … Be gone!

Only one problem: Golf gods never take the Baton of Pain back. They merely pass it on, like a virus.

Spencer Levin, your time with the BOP has begun. What you do with it is up to you.

Scorecard of the week

65-63-68-75 – 13-under 271, Spencer Levin, third place, PGA Tour Waste Management Phoenix Open, TPC Scottsdale

Everything about Levin is appealingly homemade. His swing is anti-golf academy, relying on hand-eye coordination and guts. His tempo is that of a guy sick of slow play, ready to rock and roll, and if you can’t keep up, the heck with you. His body language is overt – a backwards leg kick on a putt needing some English or a simmering intensity that contradicts every New Age sports coach’s plea for Zen.

He’s what an increasingly bland PGA Tour needs: an original with some attitude.

Now, he’s going to have to show the golf world he can carry – and shed – the Baton of Pain.

Levin’s 75 was seven shots higher than his worst score of the first three rounds, a clear case of a guy unable to handle the glare of a final pairing on Sunday. There’s good news in this.

Levin’s post-round comments were as open and honest as you could imagine – a 27-year-old willing to stare down his demons with the curled upper lip that’s marked his pugnacious playing career.

“It’s 100 percent on me,” he said of his collapse. “The way I went about it … It was on me, and I blew it.”

This is positive. Confrontation suits Levin’s personality. Go fight it, kid.

Levin is old school, right down to – get this – not owning a cell phone or an email account.

Levin is the “Gilligan’s Island” of PGA Tour players.

Stanley said part of the reason he was able to chuck the Baton of Pain out of his life was because of the outpouring of support he received via Twitter. He took heart in the “Atta-boy” and “Go-get-em” comments he received from friends, family and fellow players alike. It takes a village, it turns out, to bounce back from a triple bogey on the 72nd hole.

So, young Spencer, our advice is to set up a one-week Twitter account. Make your handle @ScrewBatonofPain and let the tweet love flow. You’ll be bigger, better, stronger and can thank us later. Plus, if the golf gods try to tweet you with negative swing thoughts, you can do what sportswriters do to haters who tweet: Block ‘em!

Broadcast moment of the week

“Oooh de LaLi LaLi!” – Ben Crane and Bubba Watson, rapping “Golf Boyz”-style on the 16th green, TPC Scottsdale, during Saturday’s third round.

I have to admit, for years I’ve held the 16th hole at the Phoenix Open in disdain. I thought it was gimmicky, loud and boorish. And let’s be honest, for the most part, I’m right.

But there are times when even this curmudgeon admits the hole is pretty darn fun.

So when Crane and Watson took to a 16th tee-box microphone like the Jay-Z and Kanye of the PGA Tour and broke out the Oooh de LaLi LaLis from their 2011 hit “Oh Oh Oh,” it was an early leader for Most Amusing Moment of the Year. I guess 2.9 million YouTube hits can’t be wrong.

The crowd went nuts, of course. But then again, the crowd would have gone nuts if Crane and Watson went to the microphone and announced tax audits for everyone. Something tells me the 16th-hole crowd isn’t entirely focused on details – just beers and noise.

Sometimes, that’s not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

Mulligan of the week

Last week, the mulligan went to Stanley. This week? Levin is the beneficiary.

Levin came to the 15th hole at Phoenix still tied for the lead. It’s a par 5, so you had to figure a guy like Levin had a chance to regain the lead with a bird. With the drive-able 17th hole still ahead, Levin’s wobbles could be righted and he still could get his first win.

Except … his drive was tugged left and the ball snuggled up next to a cactus. This is never part of the winning game plan. Even though Levin was able to punch out from the cactus, he was so rattled his third shot drifted away from the green.

Ker-splash.

A wet golf ball meant a double-bogey “7.”

That was an “ouch” worse than any Arizona cactus needle could ever deliver. Levin would finish two strokes behind Stanley.

So, young Spencer, let’s head back to the 15th tee, let you fire up one of those cigarettes you like to smoke, crank that neck back and forth a few times, remember that it’s a birdie-begging par 5 and … give that man a mulligan!Where do we go from here?

Bake the clams, golf fans, it’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am time.

This tournament is already the winner of Comeback Tourney of the Year. After a Tiger-free decade in which the fields have been weaker than convenience-store coffee, this year’s Pebble Party is hopping.

Not only is Tiger making his 2012 PGA Tour debut – back for the first time since 2002 and playing with Tony Romo in the pro-am – but also the field includes Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Snedeker.

Defending pro-am champion Bill Murray, who told the San Francisco Chronicle that the win he forged with pro D.A. Points last year is “like a blazing searchlight in the lighthouse of my life,” will have to fend off amateurs like 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, Alabama coach Nick Saban and the heart of rock ‘n roll himself, Northern California’s own Huey Lewis.

Throw in Patriots coach Bill Belichick looking to lick some wounds and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers ready to have “NFL MVP” stitched onto the side of his bag, and it looks like Pebble is back in business.

Then again, when is Pebble Beach ever not in business? Pebble is all business, 24/7/365. Plus, Spencer Levin is playing. He likes it there. Might be a good spot to chuck the Baton of Pain into Carmel Bay.

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:• Silver: Eli Manning’s gamble shows why he’s one of the NFL’s best• UFC judging criteria questioned after Carlos Condit victory• College basketball’s top five games for the week ahead

Brian Murphy writes a weekly golf column for Yahoo! Sports. Send Brian a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

The colors are used for the schedule—blue ink for those that are a work inprogress, black ink for the done deals.

The board is mostly black these days.

A new LPGA Tour season gets under way this week at Royal Melbourne with theWomen’s Australian Open, one of four additional tournaments on the 2012 schedulethat have helped nudge momentum in a favorable direction.

“It’s a blip if we have a nice ramp up and then ball back down,” saidWhan, who starts his third full year as commissioner. “It took a year to takeus from negative momentum to positive momentum, and the next year to turn thatpositive momentum into success.”

He measures success by a 39 percent increase in television viewers in theUnited States, and by 26 percent overall. While his predecessor, Carolyn Bivens,had a reputation of alienating sponsors with a hardline approach, the LPGA wasable to renew eight of the nine tournament contracts that ended in 2011.

It lost one tournament and added five others, including player favorites inKingsmill, Virginia, and Toledo, Ohio. The LPGA also renewed 10 of its 11marketing agreements.

So where was the big swing in momentum?

“If there was one, I missed it,” Whan said. “I couldn’t tell you that Igot on a plane one day and said, ‘Today we crossed the bridge.’ It’s like anysmall business. If you want to turn your business around, it starts with yourcustomers. Everybody we’ve added either came through or had dialogue withexisting customers.

“If we want more customers, it’s not because we’re focusing on customers wedon’t have. It’s going to be focusing on customers we do have. Because everybodywho signs a long-term deal is going to talk to three of our customers.”

Even so, behind any business model are the players. Whan is not lacking inthat department.

Six months into his job, Lorena Ochoa without warning walked away from golfto concentrate on her new family and burgeoning foundation. Her slot was takenby a veritable star in Yani Tseng, the 23-year-old from Taiwan who last yearbecame the youngest golfer ever to reach five majors.

“I didn’t think I’d win a major. Then, I didn’t think I’d win a secondmajor. Now it’s five,” Tseng said. “It’s just crazy.”

Tseng won seven times on the LPGA Tour last year—12 titles around theworld—and captured the LPGA player of the year for the second straight year.

Stacy Lewis was the lone American to win a major at the Kraft NabiscoChampionship, while Cristie Kerr had a peculiar season in which she failed towin on the LPGA Tour but still wound up second on the money list with ninefinishes in the top five.

Paula Creamer remains among the most popular LPGA Tour players and hopes torebound from nagging injury, while the freshest face on tour is Alexis Thompson,who last year at 16 became the youngest winner of an LPGA Tour event.

Still in the mix is Michelle Wie, who has been spending part of her time ontour and part of her time at Stanford, where she is expected to graduate thisyear before devoting more attention to the LPGA.

“Michelle at 22 … whatever she’s going to be is going to happen in thenext seven or eight years,” Whan said.

Whan said Tseng is appealing enough through sheer skill to carry the tour,though he doesn’t think that will be the case. The LPGA Tour goes all over theworld now, and there are home stars on every continent, from Suzann Pettersen inEurope to Ai Miyazato in Japan.

“Yani is rewriting the record book, but the chase pack is interesting,” hesaid. “I think we’re almost past a single-player thing, at least on the LPGA. Ithink we’re so much at a stage where there are regional stars.”

The LPGA Tour season begins this week at Royal Melbourne, where just threemonths ago the PGA Tour staged a successful Presidents Cup that showcased one ofthe world’s best courses.

That introduced a new color to the dry-board scheme—gray.

“The commissioner’s ‘Hail Mary,”’ Whan said. “The Australian Open wasalways gray.”

He couldn’t simply sanction the event for the LPGA Tour without keeping itin line with prize money at other tournaments in the Asia Pacific region. But helanded a new title sponsor in Handa with a $1.1 million purse.

The tour spends its opening three weeks overseas in Australia, Thailand andSingapore, before starting its domestic portion of the schedule March 15 inArizona at the LPGA Founders Cup, which a year ago featured a mock purse. Now,the players keep the money.

Along with adding four tournaments, there no longer are large gaps in theschedule, which also hurt whatever momentum it had. The LPGA Tour will not gomore than two weeks without playing.

Plus, it has gotten away from another Bivens idea of taking a consistenttime slot on Golf Channel, which meant tape delay in the evening. All the NorthAmerican events will be shown live this year.

One player who won’t be around for the first part of the season is51-year-old Juli Inkster, who decided to have elbow surgery. She has been aroundfor three decades and eight commissioners, and she likes what she sees.

“He’s the perfect guy for the job right now,” Inkster said. “I think he’sbuilt a foundation with the sponsors and tournament owners. And the players arenot complaining, which for us is unbelievable.”

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: The best from the Waste Management Phoenix Open

Got a funny caption for this photo of Ben Crane and Bubba Watson singing to the crowd at No. 16 on Saturday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open? Leave your answer below — and please, keep it clean!

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RankPlayerDistance1Rod Pampling40 feet, 1 inch2Kevin Na44 feet, 9 inches3Kevin Sutherland60 feet, 2 inches4Pat Perez63 feet, 0 inches5Rickie Fowler64 feet, 9 inches

Congrats for Kyle pour in on Twitter

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – As was the case a week ago, the Twitter world was buzzing about the finish to the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Only this time, congratulations, not commiseration, poured in for Kyle Stanley, who came from eight strokes behind to win at TPC Scottsdale a week after squandering a three-shot lead on the final hole of the Farmers Insurance Open.

Here are some of the tweets – first of all from Stanley himself.

@kylestanleygolf Sweet redemption. So grateful to have had another opportunity. #KFS #bounceback

@kylestanleygolf To do list on my week off: 1. Relax. 2. Work on my lag putting from 15 feet!!

@LukeDonald As tough as loses like last week are, you do learn more from defeats. He learnt quicker than most, congrats Kyle Stanley

@PaulStankowski Well well well! What an awesome comeback by Kyle Stanley!!! I love a great story and this is ONE AWESOME STORY!

@bobbybaryla Gutted for Spence…but that’s pretty good stuff from Kyle. If he wins last week he probably finishes T17 this week… #netgain #experience

@geoffogilvy Massive effort Kyle Stanley!

@robertgarrigus @kylestanleygolf don’t care what happens well done kid

@ogilviej My prediction at the beginning of the week…@kylestanleygolf would bounce back quickly. His goals are top 20 in the world, then 10, then 1

@KyleThompsonPGA Congrats to Kyle Stanley. Awesome resilience after last weeks letdown! He has a ton of game.

@DAPoints Congrats @kylestanleygolf that is one of the most impressive wins I have ever seen! Enjoy Agusta it sets up well for you!

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It was a weekend of redemption, of amazing comebacks and awesome feel good stories in sports. If you are a fan of great endings, this past Sunday was full of them, wasn't it? (And yes, I say this as a die-hard Giants fan. Wait, as a die-hard World Champions Giants fan.)

At one point this season, the New York Giants were 7-7 and many were calling for a coaching change, a quarterback change or team uniform change, something! But the team believed in what they were doing, believed in their coach and believed, most importantly, in themselves. They did not panic, they won critical games and peaked at the right time. Now they have their fourth Lombardi Trophy.

What does this have to do with golf? Well, quite a bit. Look no further than earlier in the day when Kyle Stanley, recovering from a disastrous meltdown on the final hole last week at Torrey Pines, believed in himself, didn't panic or make drastic changes and came charging back from 8 shots back to win the Waste Management Open at TPC Scottsdale.

At some point, we are all going to have failings on the golf course. How we react to those missed putts, sprayed drives and flubbed chips will determine whether we ever have the chance to rise above them and distinguish ourselves as champions (whether it's your weekend match, club championship or at a major.)

So how do you deal with tough situations and bounce back? I have three thoughts.

1.) Practice, practice, practice. When the pressure gets intense, you need to let muscle memory and solid fundamentals take over. Five minutes at the range before you tee off for the day doesn't count. Get some reps in! This is especially true following a bad shot. 2.) Get a solid routine. This helps alleviate pressure as well. Firing the trigger is just part of the routine. No chance to freeze if you are going through a comfortable routine (but don't take five minutes like certain Tour pros.) Think about the players as they played the famous 16th hole this week. With large, often boisterous and rowdy crowds waiting to cheer or jeer, they could not afford to think about the reception they'd get from their shot. They had to think about executing the shot. Rely on the routine. 3.) Discipline. My way of saying, "Stay cool." It's ok to get excited, to be happy, but if you rely on that emotion, it probably gets you in trouble as much as it helps you too. If you live and die by your golf game, well, you probabably take it too seriously (touring pros excluded), but also, it can devastate you more than it should.

Had a bad hole? Bad round? It's an opportunity to bounce back in a great way. The old adage that the you can't learn to win until you learn how to lose is very true. Kyle Stanley is going to be one of the great golf and sports stories of the year because he took what could have been a really rotten story and turned it around into a great one. Congrats to him and what a great lesson for all of us. (Oh, and so did the Giants!)

Teaching Professional at the Greens at Half Hollow and Pete's Golf Shop, a Golf Digest Top 100 Club Fitter, SAM Putt Lab Instructor,

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Only this time, congratulations, not commiseration, poured in for Kyle Stanley, who came from eight strokes behind to win at TPC Scottsdale a week after squandering a three-shot lead on the final hole of the Farmers Insurance Open.

Here are some of the tweets – first of all from Stanley himself.

@kylestanleygolf Sweet redemption. So grateful to have had another opportunity. #KFS #bounceback

@LukeDonald As tough as loses like last week are, you do learn more from defeats. He learnt quicker than most, congrats Kyle Stanley

@PaulStankowski Well well well! What an awesome comeback by Kyle Stanley!!! I love a great story and this is ONE AWESOME STORY!

@bobbybaryla Gutted for Spence…but that’s pretty good stuff from Kyle. If he wins last week he probably finishes T17 this week… #netgain #experience

@geoffogilvy Massive effort Kyle Stanley!

@robertgarrigus @kylestanleygolf don’t care what happens well done kid

@ogilviej My prediction at the beginning of the week…@kylestanleygolf would bounce back quickly. His goals are top 20 in the world, then 10, then 1

@KyleThompsonPGA Congrats to Kyle Stanley. Awesome resilience after last weeks letdown! He has a ton of game.

Pampling wins par-3 contest

Waste Management’s annual “Going for the Green” contest counts the cumulative total distance to the pin on the par-3 16th over all four days of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Waste Management will donate $25,000 to ‘Keep America Beautiful’ in the name of the winner, Rod Pampling. Since its inception three years ago, this is the lowest total distance for a champion (average of 10 feet each round).

RankPlayerDistance1Rod Pampling40’1″2Kevin Na44’9″3Kevin Sutherland60’2″4Pat Perez63’0″5Rickie Fowler64’9″

Stanley wins WM Phoenix Open

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Seven days ago, Kyle Stanley was fighting back tears after making a triple bogey on 72nd hole at Torrey Pines and losing the Farmers Insurance Open in a playoff with Brandt Snedeker.

On Sunday, though, Stanley was hoisting the trophy at the Waste Management Phoenix Open after shooting 65 and coming from eight strokes behind to win by one.

Stanley’s victory became official when Spencer Levin was unable to hole his second shot from a fairway bunker at the 18th hole for the improbable eagle. Levin had started the final round leading by six strokes.

"That’s golf," Stanley told CBS announcer Peter Kostis. "You need to accept the ups and downs. You can’t get too high or too low. I am thankful for the support I’ve received from so many people."

The victory propelled Stanley to the top of the FedExCup standings as well as the PGA TOUR money list.

After the win was assured, Stanley, the emotions once again close to the surface, told Kostis he wanted to thank his parents. “They’ve done a lot for me,” he said. “I’m speechless.”

Stanley is the first player since David Toms at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial to lose in a playoff and come back and win the following week. K.J. Choi had beaten Toms at THE PLAYERS Championship seven days earlier.

Ben Crane finished second after closing with a 66 to finish at 14 under. Levin, who shot 75, was alone in third while D.J. Trahan was fourth at 12 under.

Levin’s six-stroke lead ties for the largest lost in the final round in PGA TOUR history.

The other players who have lost a lead that large are Bobby Cruickshank (1928 Florida Open), Gay Brewer (1969 Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic), Hal Sutton (1983 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic), Greg Norman (1996 Masters) and Sergio Garcia (2005 Wachovia Championship).

Levin pars the 17th, needs eagle to tie

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Spencer Levin came to the 17th hole needing and eagle or two birdies to catch Kyle Stanley.

He left with a par after hitting his tee shot into the right fairway bunker and his second on the green but 27 feet from the pin. Levin, who had a six-stroke lead at the start of the day, now needs to hole his second shot at No. 18 for eagle to force a playoff.

Stanley finishes at 15 under

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Stanley came to the 18th hole with a one-stroke lead over his playing partner, Ben Crane. He left with likely redemption – depending on how Spencer Levin plays the final two holes.

Stanley, who squandered a five-shot lead in the final round a week ago, hit his drive well left near a hospitality tent about 102 yards from the green. When his second shot landed 18 feet from the pin, Stanley high-fived his caddy emphatically.

Stanley’s birdie putt slid 3 feet, 11 inches past the hole. But he made the putt for par – clenching his fist in quiet celebration.

Crane, meanwhile, found the fairway but his second shot spun off the green. He putted to 2 feet and eventually made par.

Crane birdies 17 to move within one

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Stanley challenged himself at the driveable par-4 17th hole, hitting his tee shot short and well right of the green.

The ball settled under a cactus, but Stanley chipped to 22 feet. When he hit his second shot, Stanley was leading by two strokes at 15 under thanks to Spencer Levin’s double bogey at the par-5 15th..

Ben Crane, who was tied for second with Levin, missed the green to the right by 31 feet, He chipped to 3 feet and made the putt for birdie to move to 14 under and one clear of Levin.

Stanley just missed the birdie putt but tapped in for par that left him one stroke ahead of Crane.

Stanley saves par at the 16th

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — While Spencer Levin was struggling at the par-5 15th, Ben Crane and Kyle Stanley were having their troubles at No. 16.

Both missed the green long and left. Stanley, who was tied with Levin when he teed off on the par 3, chipped on and made a 9-footer for par to remain at 15 under. He is now 62 of 64 on putts inside 10 feet this week.

Crane, though, missed his par putt from 14 feet so he is now 13 under.

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Top 10s FedExCup standings PGA TOUR Money List Official World Golf Ranking Player (Rk.) Player (Rk.) Player (Rk.) Brandt Snedeker (4) Brandt Snedeker (3) Dustin Johnson (9) Martin Laird (7) Martin Laird (7)   Click for standings Click for money list Click for Rankings Past winners of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am D.A. Points (2011) Dustin Johnson (2009, 2010) Phil Mickelson (1998, 2005, 2007) Arron Oberholser (2006) Vijay Singh (2004) Davis Love III (2001, 2003) Tiger Woods (2000) Steve Jones (1988) Major winners Player Major(s) won Tournament David Duval 1 2001 British Open Davis Love III 1 1997 PGA Championship Geoff Ogilvy 1 2006 U.S. Open Jim Furyk 1 2003 U.S. Open Mike Weir 1 2003 Masters Steve Elkington 1 1995 PGA Championship Steve Jones 1 1996 U.S. Open Trevor Immelman 1 2008 Masters Zach Johnson 1 2007 Masters Lee Janzen 2 1993, 1998 U.S. Open Padraig Harrington 3 2008 PGA Championship, 2007, 2008 British Open Vijay Singh 3 1998 PGA Championship, 2000 Masters, 2004 PGA Championship Phil Mickelson 4 2004, 2006, 2010 Masters, 2005 PGA Championship Tiger Woods 14 2000, 2002, 2008 U.S. Open; 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007 PGA Championship; 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 Masters; 2000, 2005, 2006 British Open 2012 PGA TOUR Winners Player Wins Tournament Brandt Snedeker 1 Farmers Insurance Open International players Argentina Miguel Angel Carballo Australia Steven Bowditch, Aaron Baddeley, Jarrod Lyle, Matt Jones, Geoff Ogilvy, Nathan Green, Mathew Goggin, Stuart Appleby, Nick OHern, Rod Pampling, Gavin Coles, Steve Elkington Brazil Alexandre Rocha Canada Richard H. Lee, Graham DeLaet, Matt McQuillan, Mike Weir England Ian Poulter, Brian Davis, Greg Owen, Gary Christian Fiji Vijay Singh Germany Alex Cejka India Arjun Atwal Ireland Padraig Harrington Japan Ryuji Imada Korea Charlie Wi, Sang-Moon Bae, Sunghoon Kang New Zealand Danny Lee Scotland Martin Laird, Russell Knox South Africa Garth Mulroy, Rory Sabbatini, Trevor Immelman Sweden Jonas Blixt, Daniel Chopra Younger and older Young Guns (under 30) Grizzled Vets (40 and over) Scott Langley Jonas Blixt Stuart Appleby Tim Petrovic Bud Cauley Dustin Johnson Gary Christian Bob Estes John Huh Kevin Kisner David Duval Scott McCarron Danny Lee Spencer Levin Brian Gay Fran Quinn Harris English Zack Miller Padraig Harrington Paul Goydos Kevin Tway Steven Bowditch Nick OHern Lee Janzen Joseph Bramlett Scott Brown Charlie Wi Davis Love III Rickie Fowler Matt Every Shane Bertsch Jeff Maggert Richard H. Lee Kevin Na Alex Cejka Kevin Sutherland Sam Saunders Ted Potter Jr. Jim Furyk Marco Dawson Cameron Tringale Kyle Reifers Phil Mickelson Scott Dunlap Mark D. Anderson Brendan Steele Mike Weir Vijay Singh Sang-Moon Bae Daniel Summerhays Tim Herron Steve Elkington Kevin Chappell Martin Flores Rod Pampling Neal Lancaster Brian Harman J.B. Holmes Patrick Sheehan Rocco Mediate Billy Horschel Billy Hurley III Paul Stankowski Tom Pernice Jr. Sunghoon Kang Martin Laird Gavin Coles Steve Jones Roberto Castro Hunter Mahan Chris DiMarco Dudley Hart Bobby Gates Ryan Moore Ken Duke Steve Flesch Colt Knost Sean OHair Tom Gillis Mitch Lowe Russell Knox Brendon Todd     Jason Kokrak Charlie Beljan     Scott Stallings      

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