On Sunday, Brendan Steele avenged a disappointing Sunday in California wine country from a year ago.
Steele won the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif., picking up his second PGA Tour win and first since his breakthrough victory at the 2011 Valero Texas Open. The California native finished with three consecutive birdies to pull off a one-stroke win over Patton Kizzire at 18-under 270.
A year ago, Steele led through 54 holes in the PGA Tour’s season opener but closed with a 76 that dropped him into a tie for 17th place while Emiliano Grillo beat Kevin Na in a playoff for his first PGA Tour title. This time around, Steele opened the final round — which came on Sunday after the third round was completed in the morning, and with a multi-hour weather delay around lunch time — five back of the lead. Steele’s finish capped off a closing 7-under 65 that set the mark for the final few threesomes to chase.
Paul Casey couldn’t reach the 583-yard closing par 5 in two, ending his chances. Michael Kim couldn’t hole out from 103 yards to make a tying eagle. Johnson Wagner faced a similar must-make situation with his third and couldn’t convert after missing a make-able birdie putt on the prior hole.
It came down to Kizzire, who held together his game on the back nine using his putting stroke as the glue. He managed to salvage par after par, coming to the last needing a birdie to force a playoff. After he laid up to 140 yards for his third shot, Kizzire took a while to commit to the swing. When he pulled the trigger, Kizzire pushed his shot to the right, landing pin-high but in a gnarly lie 25 feet from the hole. Kizzire couldn’t hole out the birdie chip, and that’s when Steele had won.
The victory is important for Steele not only because it gets him off to a great start in a new season, but he also gets a two-season exemption, as well an invitation to the Masters and the PGA Championship next year.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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