Insider: Singular Sunday changes Steele's career
By John Dell, Nationwide Tour Insider
It is a good bet that all of the 25 graduates of the Nationwide Tour are appreciative of where they are heading in 2011, but Brendan Steele is still having a little trouble believing his good fortune.
"It really hasn't set in yet," Steele said on Tuesday, two days after he made all the right moves on his way to winning for the first time on the Nationwide Tour. "I'm trying to catch my breath but I kind of think I'm dreaming because it actually hasn't sunk in yet to what it all means."
That's because Steele, 27, will be getting his first crack at the PGA TOUR. He will be a true rookie next season, so raw he has yet to even play one tournament on the PGA TOUR.
That victory in the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island on Sunday was certainly well-timed, though.
When Steele started last week he was 30th on the money list, secure in the knowledge that he would at least gain full playing status again on the Nationwide Tour for 2011. But then he started feeling good and his game was sharp and suddenly he had a five-shot lead after three rounds.
But that lead was almost too big, according to Steele.
"Oh, I couldn't sleep at all on Saturday night because my mind was racing," said Steele, whose first win on the Nationwide Tour came in his 65th career tournament. "I didn't want to be the guy blowing a five-shot lead."
Steele wound up coughing up the lead but recovered in the playoff against Colt Knost by making a birdie on the fourth extra hole to win the $180,000 that pushed him to sixth on the money list.
"If you can win out [on the Nationwide Tour] you have shown you can play with the big boys."
-- Brendan Steele
"The win means a lot because it comes with the PGA TOUR next season and just having that win under my belt is going to be invaluable," said Steele, who has been to PGA TOUR q-school five times and made the final stage twice.
To say that Steele put on a late-season rally would be an understatement. When he missed the cut at the Utah Championship presented by the Utah Sports Commission in mid-September, Steele was starting to wonder where his season was going. But he righted the ship with four straight top-25s including a fourth place in Chattanooga.
So when he arrived at Daniel Island for the Nationwide Tour Championship Steele knew what he had to do to jump inside the top 25.
"(But) I didn't think in those terms," he said. "I knew I had the top 40 locked up and that would get me to the (q-school) finals but I just kind of had a different attitude. I don't know if it was because there was no cut or what, but I got off to a good start and just kind of kept my head down the rest of the week."
Steele opened with a 66, followed with a 71 and then took the big lead with a 65 in the third round. "I think I birdied six of the first eight holes on Saturday, and when it was over I was five shots up," he said.
Despite struggling to a 73 on Sunday he didn't allow himself to get down as the playoff began. Instead, he relied on his experience of past Nationwide Tour tournaments.
"It really does help to be out here awhile and kind of learn how to keep it together," he said. "And I needed all of that experience on Sunday."
Another problem Steele had on Saturday night was convincing his wife of three-and-half years, Anastassia, to stay at home in Idyllwild, Calif. The two met while they were both students at the University of California at Riverside.
"She wanted to take a red-eye out but it would have been a long way to go and I think I took the right approach," Steele said.
Keeping Steele comfortable during the week was his good friend and sometimes caddie, Nick Wilkins, who just became a physical therapist. Wilkins, who was the best man in Steele's wedding, is getting married in two weeks.
"We played college golf together and when he comes out on the bag I just seem to do a little better," Steele said. "And he managed things out there on the course for me and was a big help."
During his three years on the Nationwide Tour, Steele has developed a comfort level -- learning the courses, the players, even where to stay and eat on the road. That will all change in January when he'll be playing in the PGA TOUR's first full-field event, the Sony Open in Hawaii.
So while he's looking forward to the challenge of playing on the PGA TOUR, Steele knows there will be an adjustment period.
"I'm sure I'll look up one day on the range and see Phil (Mickelson), Tiger (Woods) or Steve Stricker so I'm looking forward to that," he said.
Steele says that his time on the Nationwide Tour has taught him a lot and all of that knowledge will come in handy next year.
"The Nationwide Tour is amazing and if you can win out there you have shown you can play with the big boys," said Steele, who was the 25th different winner in the 29 tournaments played on the Nationwide Tour this season.
"I've seen so many guys go to the PGA TOUR and win there. I feel that the win that I picked up is something I can draw on a lot when I'm out there on the PGA TOUR."
John Dell has covered golf for the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina for the last 17 years. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.
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