LA QUINTA, Calif. — Scott Stallings’ chip on the par-5 sixth skidded and released instead of checking up, leading to a lost-shot par.

He missed a 2-footer on the next hole for his first bogey in four days in the Humana Challenge, then watched a short birdie try catch the edge and stay out on the eighth.

A few holes later, the five-stroke lead he took into the final round was long gone. And a few hours later, Brian Gay was holding the big trophy after an unexpected playoff.

“You’re going to have your good days and your bad days, but if you live and die with every shot out there, your career is not going to last very long,” Stallings said.

The two-time PGA Tour winner saved par on the par-5 14th after driving into the All-American Canal on the right side, but dropped a stroke on the par-4 16th when his 4-iron tee shot went farther than he expected and ended up in the lip of a left fairway bunker.

“I flushed it and it went right up in the lip,” he said. “I didn’t really have a play.”

On the par-5 18th, needing birdie to win and par to get into a playoff, Stallings hit a perfect 315-yard drive to set up a 6-iron approach from 220 yards.

He took a big divot and watched helplessly as the ball landed in the left rough, rattled around the rocks and tumbled into the water. He still had a chance to get in the playoff after a penalty drop, but left himself 10 feet after a chip and missed the par putt.

“There wasn’t any nerves or anything like that going into it,” Stallings said. “Just hit a bad shot. Same thing that happened on 14. ... It stinks, but it’s something that I’ll definitely learn from.”