Brendan Steele: Day Four at the Bob Hope Classic

Early yesterday evening, Jack Clark submitted this report on Saturday's results.

Brendan Steele faced a real challenge today, Saturday. He had to make up six strokes on the field in order to make the projected cut. He made up four of them, including birdying three of his final four holes. He posted 67-71-74-68 — 280 to miss the cut by only two.

When asked by the Town Crier if he felt this experience at the Bob Hope Classic better prepared him for next week’s PGA tournament at Torrey Pines, he responded, “Yes. Yes, I do. I feel I played pretty bad last week [in Hawaii], but I feel I played pretty good this week—I just made too many mistakes.

“I made enough good shots, and had enough good holes to do well. But I had too many bad shots and bad holes. I need to eliminate the bogies, then I’ll be alright.”

Next week, Steele will again pursue his first PGA Tour cut, playing in the $5.8 million Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla.

Brendan Steele: Day Two at the Bob Hope Classic

Jack reports on Brendan's day:

Brendan Steele experienced an up and down day today, Thursday, in the Bob Hope Classic. On the windy and tough Silver Rock Resort course, he put together four birdies against three bogies and posted a one-under-par 71 to bring him to six under par for the tournament.

After 36 holes, Steele is tied with 13 others for 48th place, but 54 holes remain to be played. Tomorrow Steele tees off at 9:33 a.m. on hole no. 10 at the Palmer Private course at PGA West in La Quinta for the third day of this five-day tournament.

Brendan Steele Gets Fine Start at Bob Hope Classic

Brendan Steele is playing in the Bob Hope Classic this week. It's a 90-hole tournament, rather than the normal 72-hole tour events. So it began yesterday and our intrepid golf scribe, Jack Clark, is reporting from on scence.

Brendan Steele exploded out of the gate at the Bob Hope Classic being played this week on four golf courses in the desert. At the La Quinta Country Club, he needed only 26 putts to go with drives averaging over 300 yards to post a five-under-part 67 in his opening round. He led the field after his first four holes, which he played in four under par, including an eagle on the 547-yard par-5 13^th hole.

But then came a down turn: “I kind of went to sleep there for seven holes,” he said after his round. Both he and his caddy Nick Wilkins used the word “overthinking” to describe his mid-round play. Wilkins related that Steele sees all the possibilities, which can sometimes interfere with best performance. Steele plays best, he said, when he trusts his instincts and commits to each shot, without worrying about the outcome.

Steele gave credit to Wilkins for his good play. “He tells me what shot he sees and how he wants me to hit it, and I select the club and hit the shot.” Steele played his final eight holes in four under par, including a second eagle on the 516-yard par-5 5^th hole. Then on the 527-yard par-5 6^th hole, his long putt stopped one turn away from what would have been his third eagle of the day.

As of this writing, Steele is tied with 14 others for twentieth place, but there are still 72 holes left to play in this 90-hole marathon. Tomorrow Steele tees off on No. 1 at Silver Rock Resort in La Quinta at 10:09 a.m. for the second day of this five-day tournament.