Quicken Loans National Recap: Emotional Win for Stanley

There's a lot of sentiment and emotion in sports, and there was plenty on display as the two-man playoff at the Quicken Loans National unfolded on Sunday afternoon. There was reason to root and feel for Kyle Stanley, who was looking for his first win in more than five years and who had plummeted to nearly No. 700 in the world just two years ago. But likewise, there was reason to side with Charles Howell III, who always seems to come up agonizingly short at critical moments – including on the 72nd hole -- and had gone a whopping 10 years without a victory.

In the end, it was a teary-eyed Stanley who hoisted the trophy after sinking a five-footer for par on the first playoff hole. Since winning at Phoenix in 2012, which was quite a story in itself, Stanley slowly but steadily lost his game, to the point of falling to No. 683 in the world in May 2015. But this year he has been a straight-as-an-arrow tee-to-green machine, and it was fitting that Stanley won the tournament won the lowest score to par all season, 7-under.

TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, returning to the PGA Tour after a more than decade's absence, proved to be quite the beast, playing as the second toughest course of the year, behind only Augusta National. Keeping the ball in the fairway, getting it on the green and being content with par were the ingredients needed for success.

Who better than Stanley, who is sixth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee, fifth in strokes gained tee to green, third in strokes gained approach and second in greens in regulation. The only thing holding him back has been his putter, and he was once again negative in strokes gained putting -- which tells you how good the rest of his game was on the week.

Stanley may be most famous for collapsing on the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines in 2012, a triple-bogey leading to a playoff loss. Remarkably, he rebounded the very next week to win at Phoenix, and the former Clemson star was off and running on the PGA Tour. Or so everyone thought. He didn't get another top-10 for four and a half years. But this victory was his fifth top-10 this season, and Stanley's renaissance is just as confounding as his career nosedive.

So it was understandable that Stanley was so emotional in the immediate aftermath of his victory, wiping away tears as he told reporters he wondered whether he could ever get back to this place again. He's still only 29.

Stanley hasn't so much as played in a major since 2013, but he will be in the Open Championship later this month, the PGA Championship next month and, come next April, the Masters, a tournament that Augusta native Howell missed out on yet again.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Charles Howell III

First of all, it was remarkable Howell was even on the leaderboard, much less coming within an inch of victory with a missed birdie putt on 18. He returned this week after missing almost three months with a rib injury – and we have seen how Rory McIlroy has struggled coming back from a rib injury. … Howell won way back in 2002 and again in 2007, beating Phil Mickelson in a playoff at Riviera. Since then, he has amassed eight of his career 16 runners-up, two of them this season, at Torrey Pines and now TPC Potomac. Every year in the run-up to the Masters, talk turns to Howell trying to return to his hometown tournament. He played there seven straight years from 2002 to 2008 but has made only one appearance since then. Howell is having his best year in some time, however, and there's a good chance he will qualify for Augusta by the end of this season. Howell likes to play often, and there's no reason to steer clear of someone who is often a lower-priced option delivering high finishes.

Rickie Fowler

Fowler showed that any cobwebs from the U.S. Open were gone. He incredibly amassed nine birdies on Sunday, but it was a double-bogey 6 on No. 14, the easiest hole on the course, that foiled his chances. He ended up two strokes back in a tie for third, his seventh top-10 in 14 starts this season. We'll next see Fowler in three weeks at Royal Birkdale, and among the top golfers in the world, his form right now is perhaps second only to that of Jordan Spieth.

David Lingmerth

Lingmerth was a popular consideration this week based on his strong play of late, and because he won a Web.com event at TPC Potomac back in 2012. And he came close to repeating, carrying the lead from Thursday into Sunday. But Lingmerth began leaking oil on Saturday, and he ended up tied for fifth. That Sunday slide cost him an exemption into the Open championship. But he still notched his sixth top-25 in his past eight starts, and he'll be in the field this coming week at the Greenbrier Classic.

Sung Kang

The lasting image of Kang will be get absolutely saturated in a flash rainstorm on Sunday, during which he missed a would-be lead-tying four-footer for birdie on 16. He subsequently doubled the next hole to wind up in an eight-way tie for fifth with Lingmerth and a half-dozen others. Kang has really made inroads this season. He now has eight top-25s and is 34th in the FedEx Cup point standings. Plus, his strong week gets him into his first Open Championship and just his third career major.

Sung Kang's chances of winning @QLNational took a hit when he was caught during a surprise 🌧 without rain gear: https://t.co/0z9XJGvJuBpic.twitter.com/ZMGkpXwk5a

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 3, 2017

Spencer Levin

A bogey on the last hole cost Levin one of the four Open Championship exemptions, falling from T3 to T5. It was a disappointing finish, but when Levin gets past that, he'll realize this was his best tournament of what has been a horrible season. Levin has missed 14 of 25 cuts, and this was only his second top-25. He still has a long way to go to qualify for the playoffs, sitting 148th in the point standings.

Curtis Luck

The rookie was among a half-dozen or so golfers who had at least a share of the Sunday lead before three bogeys in a four-hole stretch sunk his chances. Still, it was a great week for someone who may be the Next Big Thing in golf. The Australian amateur star just turned pro after the Masters and has been an attractive option for sponsor exemptions. He got one to play at the Quicken Loans, but his tie for fifth will get him into the Greenbrier without having to burn another sponsor invite.

Geoff Ogilvy

The veteran Aussie got a lot of TV time on Saturday, when he played with Lingmerth and couldn't buy a putt en route to a 4-over 74. He improved with a 71 on Sunday, and that left him tied for 13th. More importantly, he moved from 119th to 105th in the point standings, good position to stay in the top-125 and keep his card for next season. Ogilvy has his card this year only because he used his one-time exemption for being in the top-50 in career earnings. The former U.S. Open champ, three time World Golf Championship winner and eight-time victor on the PGA Tour is only 39, so he still has a bit of a window to secure a ninth win. It's still more than a decade till the Champions Tour beckons.

Daniel Summerhays

Summerhays was also in the mix all week and had the lead early on Sunday, when he played in the final pairing with Lingmerth. But he ended with four bogeys and two doubles to collapse to T17. It cost him not only an exemption into Royal Birkdale but also a spot in the top-125 in points. Summerhays sits at 129th, but he's shown enough game in the past month or so to lead us to believe he will eventually climb into playoff position.

Justin Thomas

Thomas is No. 12 in the world and a three-time winner this season. So he has strong credentials. But he may be the least consistent among the top golfers, missing yet another cut – two in a row after his Sunday meltdown at the U.S. Open. TPC Potomac was a recipe for disaster for Thomas, who needs really wide fairways to corral his often wild drives.

RotoWire Value Picks

Last week: Winner, runner-up, three top-5s, seven top-25s, three missed cuts.

This week: Three top-fives, seven top-25s, six missed cuts.

Yes, we had three golfers in the top five, but as someone on Twitter noted, there were quite a lot of top-fives – 12, in fact. At the top of Tier 1, Fowler tied for third. Marc Leishman was in the octet at T5, Bill Haas tied for 13th and Patrick Reed's run of success slowed somewhat with a T17. In Tier 2, Lingmerth delivered with his T5, and Danny Lee tied for 22nd, but Kevin Chappell and Brendan Steele missed the cut. In Tier 3, Kevin Streelman tied for 17th and Trey Mullinax tied for 46th, but Morgan Hoffman and Graham DeLaet missed the cut. Among the long shots, Matt Jones tied for 38th, and Grayson Murray kept his cut streak going, albeit with a solo 74th, while Julian Etulain and Jim Herman missed the cut.