When Brendan Steele missed the cut in the U.S. Open two weeks ago, it marked his sixth consecutive missed cut. But the Idyllwild native turned it around last week on the TPC River Highlands course in the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn.

Steele carded a 6-under-par 68-68-72-66 — 274 to tie for 13th place and earn $111,020 in official prize money and 56.4 FedEx Cup points.

It appears from the stats that Steele’s turnaround was due to sharp iron play — his average proximity to the hole for most of the tournament was in the excellent mid-20-foot range and his putter was able to capitalize. During one stretch on Sunday, he birdied five out of six straight holes.

This was Steele’s second top-25 performance of the year. He now has $497,243 in official money winnings this season, and 357 FedEx Cup points. He stands 109th on the money list and 99th on the FedEx Cup points list.

Steele needs to place in the top 125 on either list in order to assure his player ticket for the new 2013-14 season that will begin this fall.

Last year a little under $646,000 was required to place 125th on the official money list while 362 points — just five more than Steele has now — were needed for 125th place on the FedEx Cup point list.

Steele tees it up again this week in the $6.5 million AT&T National on the Congressional Country Club course in Bethesda, Md. The winner’s share is more than $1.1 million.