Brendan Steele is playing great at the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, tee to green. He’s hitting 70% of the fairways with booming 313-yard drives, and he’s hitting 78% of the greens in regulation. Unfortunately, except for one hole, his putter has not been his friend so far this week. He’s averaging 36 putts per round, which is both uncharacteristic of Steele and way too many putts to score well.
He did, however, sink a 30-plus footer on the 530-foot par-5 16th hole at the Nicklaus Private course for an eagle, which saved his score on Friday. His performance on the par 5s has been stellar all week: He has played the 8 par fives thus far in nine under par — scoring birdie or better on each of them.
After two days, Steele stands at four under par with a 70-70 — 140, which places him currently in a tie for 91st place. Ordinarily, that would not make the cut, but because three courses are involved in the Humana Challenge, the cut does not take place until after play on tomorrow, Saturday. Steele will need to shoot perhaps a five-under-par 67 tomorrow, or close to that, to make the cut.