Idyllwild native Brendan Steele played about as well as anyone from tee to green last week at the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, but his flat stick did not cooperate. He shot a 7-under-par 70-70-69 — 209 for the first three days, but missed the cut by 2 strokes.
Steele hit 78-percent of the fairways with drives averaging 307 yards, and he hit 81-percent of the greens in regulation. On Saturday, his average proximity to the hole was super at 23 feet, 10 inches. But he averaged over 34 putts per round, which made it impossible to post a low score. He didn’t putt terribly; many of his putts shirted or rimmed the cup, and one even hung over the edge without dropping — and he did sink a nice one for an eagle. But for whatever reason, the majority of his attempts didn’t want to fall.
This week, Steele will regroup with his second new caddie in as many weeks at the Farmers Insurance Open on the Torrey Pines courses at La Jolla.