Brendan Steele has had his ups and downs so far this week at the Farmers Insurance Invitational on the Torrey Pines golf courses in La Jolla.
Thursday he posted a 3-under-par 69 on the thought-to-be-tougher South course, which was good for an overnight tie for 19th place. But Friday, on the Tom Weiskoph redesigned and windy North Course, he could muster only a 2-over-par 74, and he dropped into a tie for 48th.
The native Idyllwilder posted identical driving accuracy stats on each of the first two days of the tournament: 64 percent. But on Thursday he hit 94 percent of the greens in regulation, whereas on Friday he managed only 50 percent. His putting -- while not remarkable, either way -- gave away strokes to the field. The longest putt he drained Friday was a 10-footer for birdie at the 429-yard, par-4 13th hole, the second-toughest hole on the North Course.
Nevertheless, he has made the cut in all six tournaments he's played in this new season. So Saturday and Sunday on the South Course will afford him an opportunity to climb back up the leaderboard and earn more FedExCup points.
Brendan tees off tomorrow, Saturday, at 8:20 a.m. PST at the 10th hole on Torrey Pines South.
Jack Clark can be reached at [email protected].
