Brendan Steele earned $49,300 in prize money last week. His three-over-par 69-74-74-66 — 283 tied him with Phil Michelson and three others for 48th place in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio.
Prior to the tournament, the native Idyllwilder played a practice round with Michelson during which the older pro graciously imparted much course-management information regarding the Firestone Country Club course. Steele reported that he very much appreciated the comments, particularly since Michelson had played more than 80 competitive rounds on the course and Steele had yet to play even one.
This week, Steele plays in his first “major” tournament — the $7.5 million PGA Championship — for which he qualified when he won the Valero Texas Open earlier this year. The PGA Championship will be played at the Atlanta Athletic Club course in Johns Creek, Ga. Steele’s first tee off is 5:10 a.m. our time on Thursday. Television coverage on TNT begins for us at 11 a.m. on each of the first two days.
