Brendan Steel fired a bogey-free, 8-under-par 32-32 — 64 Friday to leap into a tie for 4th place only two strokes off the lead at the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta.

The Idyllwild native’s 8-under-par round was bettered by no one and tied by only one other golfer in the field.

He did it with magical approach shots and some fine sand play. He sank only one long putt — a 16-footer at No. 16 on the Nicklaus Tournament course — but he sank everything from seven feet on in.

At the 431-yard 18th, Brendan’s approach shot hit the cup on the fly, damaging its lip, which had to be repaired by an official before play on the hole could contunue.

For the tournament, he’s now 75 percent in both fairways found and greens hit in regulation.

Currently, Brendan is scheduled to tee off tomorrow, Saturday, from No. 1 on the Stadium Course at 8:40 a.m. PST.

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