Brendan Steele fired a 4-under-par 67 Sunday to tie for third in the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He was 15 under for the tournament, only three shots off the lead.
For the week, the Idyllwild native found 48 percent of the fairways with drives averaging 315 yards, the longest being 343, and he hit 72 percent of the greens in regulation. He gained nearly 6.1 strokes on the field tee-to-green and nearly 6.0 more putting, needing only 1.67 putts per green. Along the way, he drained putts of 31, 21, 21, 20, 18, 15, 15 and 12 feet.
Brendan picked up 163 FedExCup points and leaped into third place on the FedExCup points list with 812, and he moved from 51st to 35th in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest-ever world ranking. He’s now expected to play in both the WGC-Mexico Championship in Naucalpan and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin. Both tournaments are coming up next month with purses of $10 million each.
Brendan earned $400,200 in official prize money Sunday, bringing his official earnings to more than $1.8 million for this season and more than $13 million for his career.
PGA Tour pros can do well financially, but tour events provide millions in charitable contributions. According to the Waste Management Phoenix Open official website, last year’s four-day tournament alone raised more than $10 million for local charities.
Brendan will pass on this week’s tournament in Pebble Beach, but is expected to play in next week’s Genesis Open at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.