Brendan Steele and his partner Keegan Bradley missed the cut by one stroke at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans last week.

The birdies weren’t happening for them. You need a handful of birdies in foursomes (alternate shot) format to be competitive, but you need two handfuls of them in four-ball (best-ball) format, and they just weren’t coming on Friday.

Brendan still has not missed a cut in singles competition this season.

The native Idyllwilder will take this week off, undoubtedly to prepare for next week’s The Players Championship on the TPC Sawgrass course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

The Players, which is sometimes referred to as “the 5th major,” sports the most famous island green in golf — its par-3 17th hole, which requires a knee-knocker of a little pitch to a smallish green surrounded by water.