Brendan Steele leading PGA Championship

Half way through the 2011 PGA Championship, Idyllwild's Brendan Steele has taken the lead. He is currently six under par, through six holes of the third round.

Brendan Steele Wins first PGA tourney

Today, Idyllwild's Brendan Steele won the Valero Texas Open. He was the leader going into the final round and he held the front despite a challenge from fellow Californian Kevin Chappell.

Steele shot a tournament total of 280, which was 8 strokes under par. He finished a stroke ahead of Chappell and veteran Charley Hoffman.

The winner's share is $1.1. million.

Congratulations to Brendan.

Brendan Steele Scores at Torrey Pines

In his final post from Torrey Pines, Jack Clark shares Brendan's thoughts on his first PGA Tour paycheck and playing with Tiger Woods.

After 54 holes in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, both Brendan Steele and Tiger Woods were 4 under par and in a fifteen-way tie for 24^th place. They squared off in Sunday’s final round in the same threesome, and 18 holes later Steele was five shots ahead.

Woods shot a three-over-par 75 and finished one under par in a tie for 44^th place 15 shots behind the tournament winner, while Steele fired a two-under-par 70 and finished the tournament six under par in a tie for 17^th place 10 strokes behind the winner. Steele’s performance earned him his first PGA Tour paycheck — $87,000 — in his third appearance.

Steele said that he had never played before a crowd as huge as the one that followed his group on Sunday, and he readily admitted that he had a case of nerves on the first tee after shaking hands with Tiger. He was the first to tee off on the par-4 1^st hole.

The day before he had driven the ball 340 yards in the fairway, but Sunday he mis-hit his drive short and into the fairway bunker on the right side. However, he made a fine sand shot to the green to par the hole and played bogie-free the entire round while collecting pars on the par-3 11^th and 16^th holes.

Steele said that at first he just tried to say out of Woods’ way, not wanting to make a mistake that would interfere with the veteran player’s game, but Woods seemed willing to converse. Many times Sunday, Woods and Steele were seen engaged in conversation as they walked down fairways. “We talked a lot,” Steele said, strongly emphasizing the word lot. “He didn’t have to do that, but he did, and I really appreciate it. Tiger had a lot to do with making me feel comfortable out there.”

A reporter asked Steele how it felt to “beat Tiger.” Steele winced and said that it was not a matter of “beating” him, that he could not affect another player’s game, he could only control his own. He said that he knew that Woods did not have his best game yet, but that he was closing in on it his preparation for the Masters in April. “If Tiger had his best game and shot a 64, and I shot 66, I’d feel very good about that,” Steele said with a genuine smile.

During the post-tournament interview, Steele was clearly upbeat. He related that he had not played well at his first tournament two weeks earlier in Hawaii. He said he played fairly well last week in La Quinta, but that his mental attitude was not the best. He felt that he had both going for him this week at Torrey Pines, and with a much better result.

Next week Steele competes in the $6,100,000 Waste Management Phoenix Open at the TPC Scottsdale course in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Torrey Pines teaches tyro PGA Steele tough third round

After Saturday’s round, Brendan Steele stated that he had “never played in front of crowds like that. It was a totally new experience.” But he enjoyed “the energy” of it, he said, acknowledging that he really loved it out there. Well, if he thinks he had a big crowd with him on Saturday, wait until tomorrow.

Last week, Steele said he hope to play with Tiger Woods to experience “the spectacle that is Tiger”. Only a week later, he will do that only three tournaments into his rookie season on the PGA tour.

Steele entered the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines tied with Tiger Woods at 6 under par for 36 holes. Today, Saturday, Steele experienced a grind of a day. He posted three birdies against five bogies, so he shot a two-over-par 74. And so did Woods.

The result is that both Steele and Woods are 4 under par and in a fifteen-way tie for 24^th place in the tournament after 54 holes. And Steele and Woods are playing together in the same threesome Sunday. During Saturday’s round, Woods continued to draw crowds that exceeded those of all other players, despite his mediocre (for him) performance.

On Saturday, Steele overcame two strokes in penalties for unplayable lies. He said he was frustrated that it seemed he was in between clubs all day — meaning he could not reach the green with a shorter iron, but was risking going over the green with the next longer club.

Birdies were few and putts for pars and bogies were several. But he persevered and birdied the 16^th hole with an 18 foot putt. Then scrambled by sinking a 12 footer on the 18^th green to make a tough par, which “made me feel good going into tomorrow,” he said.

On Sunday, Steele goes off the no. 1 tee at Torrey Pines South at 8:25 a.m. He is paired with Greg Chalmers and Tiger Woods.

Brendan Steele Makes First Cut on PGA Tour

Brendan Steele fired a fine 4-under-par 68 today, Friday, at the Torrey Pines North Course in La Jolla to tie for 12^th place with Tiger Woods and three others midway through the Farmers Insurance Open. He opened with a blazing 31 on his first nine, but a bogie and double bogie made him settle for a 37 on his second.

Most of Steele’s birdies came in a flock, six of them within seven holes beginning with the 13^th hole and extending through the 18^th and into hole no. 1 to start the front nine, which Steele played second.

On the 172-yard par-3 17^th hole, one of Steele’s playing partners, Michael Thompson, launched a high shot that hit the green and spun back to within one foot of the pin. Not to be outdone, Steele immediately reproduced that shot, landing within a few inches of where Thompson’s ball had hit, and spinning his ball back to come to rest only one inch from Thompson’s.

Steele gave back three shots with a bogie and double bogie on the 6^th and 7^th holes, respectively, but finished strongly with a birdie on the par-5 9^th hole to finish his round.

With rounds of 70 and 68 totaling 138, Steele easily made the cut in only his third PGA Tour tournament, and with five strokes to spare. To show how much his game has improved in recent times, three years ago in his rookie season on the Nationwide Tour he needed six tournaments to accomplish that feat.

When asked by the Town Crier if he felt that his white-hot 31 on his first nine had enhanced his confidence that he belonged on the big tour, Steele responded, yes, and iterated that he felt his game was good enough to win since he was making enough birdies to win—but he needed to reduce the bogies that hurt his scoring. He said he was working on eliminating the mistakes that resulted in bogies.

Saturday is “Moving Day” in a four-day tournament like the Farmer’s Insurance Open, with each player jockeying for position going into Sunday’s final round. Steele tees off tomorrow morning, Saturday, at 9:00 on the 1st hole of the Torrey Pines South Course. He is paired with PGA Tour veterans Billy Mayfair and Tag Ridings.

Brendan Steele — Mixed Opening Round at Torrey Pines

From our reliable and intrepid Golf Correspodent Jack Clark

Brendan Steele’s first round in the Farmers Insurance Open today, Thursday, at the Torrey Pines South Course in La Jolla had several phases.

He parred each of the first five holes, then birdied the par-5 6^th, bogied the 7th, and strung four birdies in a row on the 8^th, 9^th, 10^th and 11^th holes. This brought him to 4 under par and temporarily put him into a tie for 6^th place.

But then, after a par four at the long 12^th hole and narrowly missing a short birdie putt at the par-5 13^th, bogies set in—three in a row at the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th. After parring the 17^th, he birdied the 18^th to finish and post a 2-under-par 70, putting him in a tie for 35^th place going into tomorrow’s second round.

Throughout his round, Steele maintained the calm and cool demeanor of a PGA Tour veteran, He displayed none of the nervousness that one might expect to see early in his rookie season. Although he did have five birdies on the day, he had birdie putts on several more holes that just did not drop, an encouraging sign.

Steele tees off tomorrow morning, Friday, at 10:20 on the 10^th hole of the Torrey Pines North Course.

What Jack didn't mention was after the 13th hole, Steele was four under par. At that point, Tiger Woods had finished 16 holes and was three under par. So for a moment, Idyllwild's Brendan Steel was ahead of Tiger Woods!!

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.

Steele wins, PGA next

Brendan Steele, Idyllwild native, won his first and mort important Nationwide Tour tournament today. He captured the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island today in a four hole playoff with Colt Knost.

Steele was first or tied for first after each round of the tournament. He and Knost finished the fourth round tied at 275, 13 under par for 72 holes. It took another four holes before Steele could claim sole possession of the championship.

This victory and its purse jumped into the sixth highest money winner on the 2010 Nationwide Tour. The Top 25 winners earn the opportunity to compete in the Professional Golfers Association Tour in 2011.

Congrats, Brendan.

Brendan Steele run for the championship

Well, former Idyllwild native Brendan Steele is making quite a charge at becoming one of the newest members of the Professional Golf Tour.

For the past several years, Steele has been on the Nationwide Tour which is preparation for the PGA Tour. Each year, the top 25 money winners form the Nationwide Tour advance to the PGA. With one tournament left, Steele was number 30 on the Nationwide Tour's money leaders.

But this week, at the final Nationwide Tour of 2010 in Charleston, SC. Steele has lead the tourney from start through today. For 54 holes he has been number one.

Steele began today tied with two others for first place, but his seven under par performance was the best result of everyone today. He is now five strokes ahead of his challenger.

The Tour Championship at Daniel Island concludes tomorrow.

Steele Still Tied for Lead After Round Two

In his final tournament of the year on the Nationwide Tour and his final opportunity to break into “The 25” players who will qualify for the PGA Tour next year, Brendan Steele now is tied for the lead after the second of four rounds.

At the Daniel Island Club in Ralston, Charleston, South Carolina, he posted an early birdy, but later struggled with back-to-back bogies before closing his second round with a pair of birdies for a one-under-par 71.

To secure a position in The 25, Steele likely will need at least a top-ten finish—perhaps more likely a top-five—in this week’s $1,000,000 Nationwide Tour Championship, where the winner’s share is $180,000.

Steele tees off in the third round tomorrow, Saturday, at 9:25 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. His exploits may be followed on the Golf Channel from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. PDT. (with a recap from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) and online at http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/h045/.

Brendan Steele in Charleston

This just in from our golf correspondent, Jack Clark, somewhere in the mid-West.

Steele Tied for Lead After Round One

In his final tournament of the year on the Nationwide Tour and his final opportunity to break into “The 25” players who will qualify for the PGA Tour next year, Brendan Steele is tied for the lead after the first of four rounds.

At the Daniel Island Club in Ralston, Charleston, South Carolina, he opened today with a bogey-free, six-under-par 66.

Steele tees off in the second round tomorrow, Friday, at 9:20 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. His exploits may be followed on the Golf Channel from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. PDT. (with a recap from 6:30 p.m. to 8:20 p.m.) and online at http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/h045/.