Backspin: One week later, Stanley did everything right

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Golf is a game about redemption as much as anything else. It's also one full of deja vu moments.

Kyle Stanley. Spencer Levin.

The two of them are as different as two players can be. Stanley is outwardly cool and calm with a vicious yet controlled swing. Levin is a bundle of nerves who churns through cigarettes, wears his emotions on his sleeve and can swing out of his shoes.

Yet they're both linked by what's happened each of these last two weeks.

Stanley blew a three-shot lead on the final hole and eventually lost at Torrey Pines ... only to turn that experience into a learning one that would lead to a victory Sunday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

"I didn't pay much attention to the leaderboards until maybe four or five holes left," admitted Stanley, who rallied from eight shots back for his first career win on the PGA TOUR. "I didn't really think about it too much today, but I made the mistake of thinking about it probably all of the final round last week.

"You can't really teach somebody the experience aspect of it, and I think being in contention last week, I think the more times you get there, the more comfortable you get."

Stanley's caddie, Brett Waldman, was a big reason why. He's new to Stanley's bag after leaving Camilo Villegas for a failed attempt on the Nationwide Tour last year. During the final round in Phoenix, Waldman helped keep Stanley in the moment.

"I don't know what I'd do without that guy," Stanley said.

Meanwhile, Levin, who began the day with a six-shot lead, knows pretty much exactly how Stanley felt a week ago.

Now the question is: Can he learn from it too?

"It was a weird feeling today," said Levin, who'd never led after 54 holes before. "It's almost like you're kind of wanting the holes to run out real quick.

"Next time, I'll just try to maybe stay a little more patient, and try to have a little more fun. I just didn't have any fun today. I was trying to rush it and get it over with. When I'm playing well, it's fun, I'm joking around, laughing, everything is good. I've got to find a way to get in that mindset next time I'm in this situation for sure."

If there's a proverbial silver lining for Levin, it is Stanley, who, like David Toms a year ago at THE PLAYERS Championship, lost a playoff one week only to turn around and win the following week.

"I guess it shows that you can recover from it," Levin said. "I think I will."

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. You often hear how some football players can't sleep the night before the Super Bowl. Sometimes it's the same for golfers. At least it was for Spencer Levin, who woke up at 3 a.m. before the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open and never really fell back to sleep. "I got a little more sleep after that, but not really,"said Levin, who added that he went to bed relatively early Saturday night. "I don't think that has anything to do with the way I felt today. I could have not slept at all and still felt plenty of energy today." Maybe so, but waking up in the middle of the night like that sure doesn't help any. "I'll go about it different next time," Levin added.

2. Levin on his third shot on the par-5 15th that found the water and took with it any chance he had of winning the tournament: "I didn't feel like I hit that bad a shot. I pushed it a little bit, but I guess I didn't hit enough club." Not enough club is right. Levin's shot wasn't close to clearing the water. He thought a 4-iron would go over the green and 5-iron wouldn't carry and when the shot splashed down he said it was a "complete shock." None of that adds up particularly well, though it does play into what Levin said about his mind not being right, and that affected his swing all day.

3. Stat of the Week I: Two. That's the number of bogeys Spencer Levin had through his first 57 holes at TPC Scottsdale. Five. That's the number of bogeys (including one double bogey) that Levin had over his final 15 holes.

4. Stat of the Week II: 12 under. That's what Ben Crane was on the par-5s at TPC Scottsdale. "Considering that the last five years I'm 200th in par-5 scoring, that's awesome," Crane said. Well, not quite 200th last year but he was 145th. Might be difficult to expect that kind of performance on par-5s from Crane each week, but it is why he finished second on Sunday.

5. Answer to a future trivia question: What does Levin have in common with Bobby Cruickshank, Gay Brewer, Hal Sutton, Greg Norman and Sergio Garcia? Yep, they've all blown a TOUR record six-shot lead with 18 holes to play.

6. Coincidental stat or something to it? The last 12 champions of the Waste Management Phoenix Open have combined for just two bogeys on the raucous par-3 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale. Stanley parred the hole in each of the four rounds this week.

7. Super Bowl meets golf Fact of the Week: New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes went to the same high school as Bubba Watson in Milton, Fla., where Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum also went. Tynes' father is a former Navy SEAL. Watson's late father, Gerry, was a Green Beret.

8. Americans have now won each of the first five events on TOUR this season. I don't know if that means anything, but it's the first time that's happened in over a decade.

9. I wonder what kind of mood Tom Brady and Bill Belichick will be in at this week's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am? Both are scheduled to play.

Monday Mailbag

"Do you think that the hoopla at Phoenix's 16th hole needs to be reined in/toned down?" -- Gary K. McCormick In a word, no. Why should it be reined in or toned down? I'm not saying every hole or even every event should have an atmosphere like TPC Scottsdale has at the 16th, but its a novel idea that fans and players absolutely love. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And there is nothing broken about that hole, and the interaction it creates. "What are the chances of Ernie Els playing in the Masters this year...furthermore winning?" -- Miles Dowsett If Els is going to play in the Masters, he's going to have to move up in the Official World Golf Ranking. A win would certainly do that, and automatically get him in. While I don't see the latter happening, I do think Els can climb inside the top 50 in the world to sneak into the field with a couple of good performances in the weeks ahead. In addition to switching to a belly putter, Els consulted with an eye specialist who works with a few rugby teams. "We've been working on some good stuff to do with my eyes, and I can see a lot of positives for me at the moment," Els said on his website. "To use a cliche, she has literally opened my eyes about putting again, and it has helped bring back good memories of what I used to do when I was one of the best putters in the world in the 1990s and early 2000s. If my putting properly comes around, I can start winning golf tournaments again." Don't you think Brandt Snedeker deserves credit for his final round 67 (at the Farmers Insurance Open two weeks ago) and performance in the playoff? -- John Hamilton Snedeker deserves plenty of credit, yes, and he's made a habit of these come-from-back-in-the-pack wins by not quitting when he's trailed by a bunch. But let's remember that Stanley needed to get the ball in the hole in five strokes or less from 77 yards and a good lie in the rough on 18 at Torrey Pines. If he hits his approach to the back of the green, or even in the back bunker, we are not having this conversation. Have a question for the mailbag? Email brianwacker@pgatourhq.com, or tweet it to @pgatour_brianw.

Forward Spin

For the first time in 10 years, Tiger Woods is in the field at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He's of course had some pretty special moments there, both in this tournament and the U.S. Open. What can we expect from Woods this week? Given how he's played in his last two starts -- a win at the limited-field Chevron World Challenge and a third-place finish in Abu Dhabi, where he failed to turn a share of the 54-hole lead into a win in a rare moment -- plenty. Look, it's clear Woods is playing much better right now than he did practically all of last year. He's healthy and he has better control over every aspect of his game. Will he win? Who knows, but I think he'll contend.