Brendan Steele wins Valero Texas Open

Brendan Steele of the USA fired a closing round of 71 to beat fellow rookie Kevin Chappell by a single shot and to win the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio.

Brendan Steele
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Brendan Steele of the USA fired a closing round of 71 to beat fellow rookie Kevin Chappell by a single shot and to win the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio.

Steele came into the final round one shot clear and he coped well with the difficult, windy conditions to maintain that advantage and claim his maiden PGA Tour title.

The Californian, whose previous best finish on the circuit was a tie for 17th at the Farmer's Insurance Open in January, held his nerve as a pack of players looked to threaten him at the top of the leaderboard.

He played a supremely solid closing round that featured 12 straight pars from the 8th hole to maintain his slender advantage.

"When you've got the one shot lead it's not even your tournament," he said. "There's so many guys that could still win with a good round, without you even doing anything wrong, that I didn't feel as much pressure."

Kevin Chappell moved into a share of the lead with a birdie on the 10th hole and he remained tied at the top until the 17th where a dropped shot proved costly for the 24-year-old.

"I think I just fell asleep," he said of the 17th hole. " I thought the wind was dead into me and I should have known it was a little left to right."

Charley Hoffman played a fine closing round of 68 to climb into a tie for second place with Chappell while Brandt Snedeker was one shot further back, alone in fourth.

Wind was a factor in the tournament all week and the scoring average reflected that. At 73.365 it was the highest average on this year's PGA Tour so far. Steele's winning total of 280 was the highest recoreded in the tournament since 1934.

Valero Texas Open TPC San Antonio, Texas Apr 14-17, purse $6,200,000, par 72

1   Brendan Steele (USA)   69   72   68   71   280   $1,116,000 T2   Kevin Chappell (USA)   68   73   70   70   281   $545,600 T2   Charley Hoffman (USA)   68   73   72   68   281   $545,600 4   Brandt Snedeker (USA)   69   72   70   71   282   $297,600 T5   Fredrik Jacobson (Swe)   72   75   67   69   283   $226,300 T5   Pat Perez (USA)      71   74   67   71   283   $226,300 T5   Cameron Tringale (USA) 71   71   68   73   283   $226,300 8   Charles Howell III (USA) 71   73   68   72   283   $226,300 T9   Keegan Bradley (USA)   73   73   71   68   284   $192,200 T9   Martin Laird (Sco)   72   74   69   70   284   $192,200 Note: Player in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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