Kyle Stanley wins the Quicken Loans National

Kyle Stanley climbed back up the mountain at the Quicken Loans National to win on the PGA TOUR for the first time in a half decade.

Five long, trying years had passed, but Kyle Stanley can call himself a PGA TOUR winner again. He held off Charles Howell III in the first playoff hole at the Quicken Loans National at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Potomac, Maryland.

Howell III had a 21-footer for birdie and the win that missed by an inch on the 18th.

Stanley made him pay in the playoff as Howell III could not recover from a wayward approach shot. Stanley sunk a short-range putt for par and the win.

The 29-year-old from Gig Harbor, Washington, did much of his work on the weekend, jumping from even par through 36 holes to claiming the trophy 48 hours later thanks to rounds of 67 and 66 with only two bogeys in the process.

This week was a very Kyle Stanley-esque week in that his driving and ball-striking were superb, while his putter left some to the imagination.

He finished with a positive strokes gained putting mark only on Sunday, but his iron play was strong. He missed only four greens on the weekend.

David Lingmerth led after each day, but he started leaking oil on Saturday. He dropped from 10-under-par to four-under and a missed opportunity at qualifying for The Open.

Rickie Fowler was never in contention to win, but he carded a five-under 65 to climb 15 spots to tie for third. Only Nick Watney went lower Sunday, carding a 64 to climb 27 spots to T13.

Stanley, Howell III, Martin Laird (T3, -5) and Sung Kang (T5, -4) earned their way into The Open Championship field. Fowler was already exempt. Kang grabbed the final spot among six who were tied for fifth and not already exempt via his world rank.

Stanley’s climb

Seconds after his par putt on the first playoff hole fell in the cup, tears fell from Kyle Stanley’s eyes.

Winning on the PGA TOUR is an emotional event for anyone, whether it’s your first or 21st. Once a Ben Hogan Award winner and PGA TOUR victor by the age of 24, Stanley went winless for five straight years.

His game fell off a cliff as he failed to record a top 10 in 2014 and 2015. The putting issues that acted as a mild irritant this week flared up all too often, hindering the reserved Stanley’s confidence.

In a 2012 interview with Golf Digest, Stanley admitted his performance on the course could affect his mood off of it.

"That’s been something I’ve been dealing with since my junior golf days,” Stanley said. “You know, I’ve always attached myself to my score, and it’s an easy thing to get caught up in."

Stanley took some time off late in 2015 to reassess his game and get back in control.

Stanley told Golfweek,

"Going into this year, I’ve just tried to do everything that I can control, preparation-wise, off the golf course, and stuff like that. I’ve been doing that, and it’s nice to come to the course and stand on the first tee feeling like you deserve to play good golf."

He steadily began to reascend the mountain in 2016. He was still without a high finish, but cuts were becoming the norm for the former Clemson Tiger.

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In the nick of time, Stanley dug deep to tie for 14th at the Wyndham Championship in the regular season finale to keep his PGA TOUR card.

Since that August day, Stanley’s missed just three cuts in 19 starts.

That pesky top-10 stat was done away with, too.

He tied for seventh at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and eighth at the Shell Houston Open. He ramped it up with a fourth at the PLAYERS and sixth at the Memorial which feature two of the year’s more elite fields.

Now, he’s a PGA TOUR winner again with exemption through the 2018-19 season.

“It’s hard to put into words. It means a lot to me,” Stanley said to CBS’ Dottie Pepper after on the 18th green.

Notes

• There was a brief delay late in the day Sunday. The forecast gave a zero to 10 percent chance of rain at TPC Potomac, but Mother Nature had other plans. A pop-up rain storm lasted for about 10 to 15 minutes, leaving poor Sung Kang rushing to finish his round without rain gear. His birdie putt missed. However, a spot to Royal Birkdale was still his.

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• Defending champion, Billy Hurley III, missed the cut. He won at Congressional Country Club.
• Former world No. 1 amateur and 2016 US Amateur champ, Curtis Luck, was in the penultimate group Sunday. Now a pro, the Aussie posted a 70 Sunday to tie for fifth, his highest finish in eight PGA TOUR starts. He’s now exempt into next week’s Greenbrier Classic.
• Another former No. 1 amateur and US Amateur winner, Bryson DeChambeau, earned his second highest PGA TOUR finish this season by tying for 17th.
• Howell III nearly broke a longer winless spell than Stanley’s. A win would’ve been his first since the 2007 Nissan Open (now Genesis Open). Howell III was also competing for the first time since the RBC Heritage in April, coming off of a rib injury.
• Daniel Summerhays continues to be one of the best on Tour without a win. He was at six-under and in the final group with Lingmerth before sputtering with a 74 on Sunday.

Next: Tommy Fleetwood wins the HNA Open de France

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