Brendan Steele played the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in nine under par last week. He posted a total of 70-71-70-68 — 279 to tie for 32nd place. Steele earned $33,528 in official prize money and 34.5 FedEx Cup points.

After making the cut Friday, Steele improved on the weekend. On Sunday, his hot putter gave him 11 one-putt greens, eight of them on his back nine. He sank three putts of 13 feet or longer, including a 25-foot, 10-incher.

Steele now stands at 96th on this year’s official money list with $386,223. On the FedEx Cup point list, he improved to 76th with 296 total points.

Players finishing in the top 125 on the 2013 official money list or on the 2013 FedEx Cup point list will earn their tour cards for the 2014 season.

In the three previous seasons, the 125th player on the official money list had earned between $646,000 and $754,000. On the FedEx Cup list, between 329 and 379 points were needed to place 125th. But this 2013 transition season is four events fewer, so it should require less winnings or points to be in the top 125 this season.

The two PGA lists are not entirely parallel, so it is possible for a player to be in the top 125 on one list while not making it on the other.

Also, the FedEx Cup points assignments make it important for a player to play as well as possible all the way through a tournament even when he is well down the leaderboard. For example, last week Steele earned a little more than two and a half times as much money as the last-finishing pro in the tournament, but he earned more than 35 times as many FedEx Cup points.

This week, Steele will play in the $6.7 million Wells Fargo Championship on the Quail Hollow course in Charlotte, North Carolina.