After a long, year-end break, Brendan Steele kicks off the main part of the 2016 season this week in our back yard at the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta. The event is played on three courses, so the cut occurs on Saturday evening instead of Friday.

The native Idyllwilder currently stands 27th on the FedExCup points list with 231; he stands 79th on the Official World Golf Ranking list.

These lists are important because Brendan has told the Town Crier that his prime goal for this year — apart from securing another tour victory, of course — is to make the top 30 on the FedExCup list at the end of the season, which would open doors to major tournaments in 2017. And being in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking would make him eligible for the high-ranking World Golf Championship tournaments, as well.

Brendan’s tee times for the first three rounds this week are as follows:
Thursday, 10:20 a.m. at the La Quinta Country Club course, tee No.1.
Friday, 9:50 a.m. at the Nicklaus Tournament course, tee No. 10.
Saturday, 9:20 a.m. at the TPC Stadium course, tee No. 1.

Plan to come down, join Brendan’s gallery and walk the course with him at least one day. You can count on finding other fans from the Hill in B’s gallery.

Jack Clark can be reached at jack@towncrier.com.