Brandt Snedeker a surprise winner at Farmers Open LA JOLLA -- Brandt Snedeker won the Farmers Insurance Open in a playoff not even he thought was possible. Kyle Stanley led by seven shots early in the final round Sunday, and he still had a four-shot lead as he stood on the 18th tee at Torrey Pines. Just like that, he went from being anointed a rising star to a meltdown that ranks among the most shocking in golf. Snedeker, in the group ahead of him, hit wedge to within a foot for birdie and a closing-round 67, then drove up to the media tent for an interview as the runner-up. He arrived in time to watch Stanley spin a wedge into the water, then three-putt from 45 feet for a triple-bogey eight and a 74. Two playoff holes later, both were in shock. Snedeker's tee shot hopped over the green and would have gone into a canyon except that it bounced off a television tower. He chipped to within about 5 feet and made the par. Stanley three-putted again from just outside 45 feet, his five-foot par putt catching the right lip. "It's just crazy," Snedeker said. To get my mind around what happened the last 30 minutes is pretty hard to do right now. My heart is out to Kyle. I feel bad for him to have to go through this. Stanley, whose power, poise and polish was on display all week, was reduced to tears. His eyes were glassy and his lip quivered as he tried to answer questions, a sad ending to an otherwise spectacular week along the Pacific bluffs. "It's not a hard golf hole," Stanley said. I could probably play it a thousand times and never make an eight. But he did Sunday, a painful lesson for the 24-year-old out of Clemson. It was the second straight time Snedeker won a PGA Tour event by rallying from five shots behind in the final round to win in a playoff. He did it at Hilton Head last April and beat Luke Donald. This one was handed to him. Stanley birdied his first two holes and led by six shots at the turn until he started dropping shots from the sand. Even so, he made three straight par putts, starting with a 12-footer on the 14th, to seemingly regain control. The kid knows heartache. Last summer, he was two shots ahead at the John Deere Classic until he bogeyed the final hole from a bunker, and Steve Stricker closed with two straight birdies to win. This loss, however, put him in the wrong kind of company. It was reminiscent of Jean Van de Velde at Carnoustie, who made triple bogey on the last hole of the 1999 British Open and lost in a playoff; of Robert Garrigus, who made triple bogey on the last hole of the St. Jude Classic in 2010 and lost in a playoff; and even of Frank Lickliter at Torrey Pines, who three-putted from 12 feet on the 17th hole in 2001 to make triple bogey in the third playoff hole in losing to Phil Mickelson. "I know I'll be back," Stanley said, pausing to allow the words to come out of his mouth. It's tough to swallow right now. Stanley stood over a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole with a four-shot lead, and it was matter of staying upright for the next 20 minutes to collect his first PGA Tour win. If only it were that simple. Snedeker made his tap-in birdie to finish at 16-under 272. Stanley hit a 300-yard drive and kept it simple by laying up.