Kyle Stanley (born November 19, 1987) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

Amateur career

Stanley was born in

Gig Harbor, Washington Gig Harbor is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington,. The population was 12,029 at the 2020 census. Gig Harbor is one of several cities and towns that claim to be "the gateway to the Olympic ...

. He was a 2002 graduate of St. Charles Borromeo elementary and middle school and a 2006 graduate of

Bellarmine Preparatory School Bellarmine Preparatory School is a private, Roman Catholic, coeducational high school run by the USA West Province of the Society of Jesus in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It is located in the Archdiocese of Seattle. Today it serves just ...

(both Catholic schools located in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

). As a freshman at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

, he established 18 individual scoring records. During his college career he has won the 2006 Aloha Purdue Collegiate and the 2008 Carpet Classic. He was named the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

player of the year for the 2006-07 season. Stanley was named first-team All-America in 2007 and 2009 by the

Golf Coaches Association of America The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) is a non-profit organization that is a professional association of men’s collegiate golf coaches. It was founded in 1958, and is located on 1225 West Main Street in Norman, Oklahoma. The GCAA has o ...

. He was the Individual runner-up at the NCAA Championship in 2007 and 2009. He was a member of the 2007 American Walker Cup team. Stanley studied Sports Management while at Clemson. In 2009 he was given the

Ben Hogan Award The Ben Hogan Award is an annual prize given by Friends of Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America, since 1990, to the best college golf player in the United States. The Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas joined the organization ...

for best college golfer.

Professional career

Stanley turned professional after the 2009 U.S. Open and made his pro debut a week later at the

Travelers Championship Traveler(s), traveller(s), The Traveler(s), or The Traveller(s) may refer to: People Generic terms *One engaged in travel *Explorer, one who searches for the purpose of discovery of information or resources *Nomad, a member of a community withou ...

. Late in 2010, Stanley earned a 2011

card through

Q-School In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

where he finished in a tie for ninth. In his debut season on tour, he recorded four top-10 finishes, with the best of these coming at the

John Deere Classic The John Deere Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in July, usually the week before The Open Championship, at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois. History The tournament bega ...

where he finished runner-up to

Steve Stricker Steven Charles Stricker (born February 23, 1967) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has twelve victories on the PGA Tour, including the WGC-Match Play title in 2001 and two FedEx Cup play ...

by a single stroke. The runner-up finish did however help Stanley secure the final available spot at the 2011 Open Championship. It was his first ever appearance in an Open Championship and he made the cut to finish in a tie for 44th. He also made the third

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is a championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Announced in November 2005, it was first awarded in 2007. Rory McIlroy is the 2022 champion. Th ...

playoff event, the BMW Championship, finishing tied for 10th, though that wasn't good enough to provide entrance to the final event of the year,

The Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

. He finished the 2011 season 55th on the PGA Tour money list and 148th on the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

2012: Torrey Pines collapse and Scottsdale comeback

In January 2012, Stanley looking for his maiden win on the PGA Tour, surrendered a six-shot lead during the final round of the

Farmers Insurance Open The Farmers Insurance Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played in the San Diego, California, area in the early part of the season known as the "West Coast Swing". The tournament was noted for having singer-actor Andy William ...

. He started the day with a six stroke advantage over the rest of the field and at one stage during the final round extended this to seven strokes. As he approached the final hole, Stanley led by three strokes over

Brandt Snedeker Brandt Newell Snedeker (born December 8, 1980) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2012 FedEx Cup with a victory in the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. After this victory, he moved into ...

with just the par-five 18th to play. However, after laying up with his second shot, he spun his approach off the green and into the water hazard. After taking a penalty drop, he found the back edge of the green and three putted to record a triple-bogey eight on the final hole of regulation to result in a sudden-death playoff with Snedeker. After replaying the 18th and both making birdie, Snedeker won the tournament on the second playoff hole with a par after Stanley once again three putted the green. The following week, Stanley came back from eight shots behind 54 hole leader

Spencer Levin Spencer Joseph Levin (born June 15, 1984) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the Korn Ferry Tour. Early years and amateur career Levin was born in Sacramento, California, the son of Carlene (Rossi) and Don Levin. His mother ...

at the

Waste Management Phoenix Open The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona. The tournament was originally the Arizona ...

in Scottsdale for his first PGA Tour win. Stanley shot a final round bogey-free 65 for a one stroke victory over

Ben Crane Benjamin McCully Crane (born March 6, 1976) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early years and amateur career Crane was born in Portland, Oregon. He was introduced to golf at age five by his grandfather. He grew up play ...

. The eight shot comeback win was also tied for third in the largest final round comeback by a winner in PGA Tour history. Stanley briefly moved into the top 50 of the

by virtue of his quarter-finalist finish at the

WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship The WGC Match Play, currently titled as the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for sponsorship reasons, is a professional men's golf tournament that has been held since 1999. It is the only one of the World Golf Championships to have been contested ...

, peaking at 47.

2013–16

Stanley had two third-places in 2013 which allowed him to finish 62nd on the PGA Tour's money list. In 2014 Stanley only had one top-ten and finished 148th on the PGA Tour's money list, and thereby lost his full-time PGA Tour status. In 2015 Stanley split his time on both the PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour. He played well in the year-end Web.com Tour Final series to earn his PGA Tour card again for the 2015–16 season. Stanley used the last tournament of the 2015–16 regular season, the

Wyndham Championship The Wyndham Championship is a professional golf tournament in North Carolina on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in Greensboro and was originally the Greater Greensboro Open. History Founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open, it was usua ...

, to move into the top 125 and qualify for the

playoffs, however, after a tie for 74th at

The Barclays The FedEx St. Jude Championship, founded as the Westchester Classic in 1967, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Since 2007, it has been played as the first tournament of the playoff system for the FedEx Cup, with the field limi ...

, he was only 116th on the points list, 16 spots short of qualifying for the second round of the playoffs.

2017

Throughout most of the 2016–17 season, Stanley was one of the best players on Tour in strokes gained tee-to-green, but his short-game and putting statistics were outside the top 100. Stanley had several strong performances during the season, including top-10 results in Las Vegas, Houston, Ponte Vedra Beach, and Dublin, Ohio (Columbus). On July 2, Stanley defeated

Charles Howell III Charles Gordon Howell III (born June 20, 1979) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on LIV Golf and formerly on the PGA Tour. He has been featured in the top 15 of the Official World Golf Ranking and ranked 9th on the PGA Tour m ...

on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff at the

Quicken Loans National The National, originally titled for sponsorship reasons as the AT&T National and later as the Quicken Loans National, was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 2007 to 2018. It was hosted by Tiger Woods and benefited the Tiger Woods ...

at the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. After Howell made bogey, Stanley made a 4-foot uphill par putt to secure his first championship in five years. His win in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

ensured his qualification for the

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

. It was Stanley's first appearance in a major since 2013. The win also qualified him for the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

and the

2018 Masters Tournament The 2018 Masters Tournament was the 82nd edition of the Masters Tournament and the first of golf's four major championships in 2018. It was held April 5–8 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Patrick Reed won his first major t ...

Amateur wins (8)

*2004 Boys Junior Americas Cup, Hargray Junior Invitational *2005 HP Boys Championship, MCI Junior Heritage *2006

Sahalee Players Championship The Sahalee Players Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 1992 at the Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. The event will not be played from 2020 to 2022 and will return in 2023 as a collegiate event. ...

Southern Amateur The Southern Amateur is an amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 1902 and is organized by the Southern Golf Association. From 1902 to 1963, it was played at match play. Since 1964, it has been played at stroke play. In December 2021, ...

*2008

*2009

Jones Cup Invitational The Jones Cup Invitational is an annual amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 2001 at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Georgia. It was originally biannual but it became an annual event in 2009. It is an individual 54-hole stroke- ...

Professional wins (2)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (twice, current) *Longest streak of top-10s – 0

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Results in World Golf Championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2015.'' QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

(winners) Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

References

External links

* *
Clemson University profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Kyle American male golfers Clemson Tigers men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Washington (state) People from Gig Harbor, Washington 1987 births Living people