It seems like the 2017-2018 PGA Tour season ended 24 hours ago, but the new season begins Thursday with the Safeway Open at the Silverado Country Club in Napa, California. For Brendan Steele, 35, the new beginning is a welcome turnaround from a promising season that fizzled out after successfully defending his title here in October last year.
In going for a three-peat, Steele will be trying to shake off a difficult end to the 2018 season in which he missed five of eight cuts, and finished no higher than 47th in the other three.
“I didn’t really like how I finished the season,” Steele told reporters Tuesday at Silverado Golf Course. “It wasn’t very good for the last few months. I just got a little confused with kind of what I was doing. … I’m trying to get back to basics.”
Friendly Course, but Still Long Odds
Steele couldn’t have picked a better place to try and jumpstart his game. He has won the Safeway Open the last two years, and is trying to become the 27th player to win a single event in three consecutive years.
Steve Stricker was the last golfer to accomplish a PGA Tour three-peat, winning the John Deere Classic in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Tiger Woods has won the same event four times twice in his career, finishing first at the Bay Hill Invitational from 2000-2003, and at the Buick Invitational from 2005-2008.
“I’m obviously very comfortable getting back here,” Steele said. “I’ve seen this place in a lot of different conditions, and it just seems to fit my eye no matter what’s going on and where my game is coming into the week. It always brings out the best in me for some reason, so it’s nice to be back.”
Steele isn’t given much hope by sportsbooks to win at Silverado, however. He is listed at 40/1, well behind favorite Patrick Cantlay, who is at 12/1. Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Moore are next at 20/1.
Phil Mickelson, who is the only golfer from the losing American Ryder Cup team to enter the Safeway Open, is at 25/1. Mickelson lost his singles match, as well as the one team match he played in, and might be fighting fatigue coming into the event.
Triple Damages
Steele has been off since Sept. 9, when he finished 64th at the BMW Championship and failed to advance to the Tour Championship. Steele is hoping this week mirrors the beginning of last season, where he finished in the top 20 four out of his first 10 events.
Taking a tournament for the third time, though, is not a probable occurrence. Last season three golfers tried to win an event for the third time, and all three came up short.
Hideki Matsuyama was the first to try. He was forced to withdraw after the first round with a wrist injury. He told reporters at the February event that it was impossible to continue.
“As much as I wanted to continue to play and with the three-peat in mind, the pain was just too much,” Matsuyama said.
Daniel Berger was the next one to attempt it. He came into the June FedEx St. Jude Classic as a 20/1 pick, but ended up missing the cut.
The last hope for a three-peat rested with Jhonattan Vegas at the Canadian Open in July. The Venezuelan golfer was a 60/1 pick to win, but finished tied for 29th.
