Brendan Steele was in it to the end at The Honda Classic in Florida last week. In a thrilling race to the wire, the Idyllwild native tied for fourth — his second top-5 finish of this season. 

He posted a 3-under-par 68-67-71-71 — 277 on the champion course at the PGA National, one of the toughest courses on the PGA Tour.

The thrill-shot of the tournament for Brendan fans had to be on the par-3 15th hole Saturday when his 179-yard tee shot hit a few feet in front of the pin, caught the right side of the hole and rode the rim some 200-plus degrees before flipping out back toward him for a tap-in birdie.

Now with 477 FedExCup points, Brendan has moved up 13 spots on the all-important FedExCup list to 36th place. At the start of the season, Brendan needed to finish in the top 125 to earn his playing card on the PGA Tour for next year. He’s now assured of doing that. He has already amassed more FedExCup points this season than did any eventual 125th-place finisher in the previous nine years that Brendan has been on the tour. So now, let’s concentrate on a fourth win!

Brendan will be swinging again this week in the $7-million Arnold Palmer Invitational at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida. This will be the eighth season he has played this tournament. Last year, he tied for 17th place. 

Brendan will tee off Thursday at 9:33 a.m. and Friday at 4:33 a.m., playing with Charles Howell III and Jim Hermans both days. Follow him shot-for-shot at pgatour.com or with the PGA Tour app. The tournament will be telecast on the Golf Channel (Thursday and Friday) and on NBC on the weekend.

Video below shows Brendan's tee shot on the 15th hole Saturday. (See minute 1:57)