Brendan Steele successfully defends Safeway Open

Brendan Steele made it back-to-back wins at the Safeway Open with a two shot victory at the Silverado Resort

Just a few hours after Tyrrell Hatton defended his first European Tour title at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St Andrews, Steele made his own title defense – besting Tony Finau by two shots.

Steele birdied two of his final three holes on his way to posting an impressive three-under-par 69 in windy conditions in California, and he said it was nice to ‘restart’ his season here. 

“It (winning) really was a good springboard for me last year,” Steele said. “It propelled me to my best season yet. It was nice to get re-started here and feel a little bit more free.”

Starting the day two shots behind overnight leader and rookie Tyler Duncan, Steele rolled in birdies on the fourth, fifth and ninth holes put himself firmly in to contention. He dropped shots at both the 12th and 14th holes, but he rallied over the three final holes to distance himself from Finau. 

Finau had put up a strong challenge early on, briefly holding the lead until a costly double bogey on the 14th hole, and a final hole birdie still wasn’t enough to catch Steele’s lead. 

Phil Mickelson and Chesson Hadley took a share of third place with Duncan in fourth, and for Mickelson it was the challenge of being in the mix that he really enjoyed. 

“I had a good time today,” Mickelson said. “It was fun to be in the mix, it was fun to have a chance. It was very difficult conditions. I enjoyed that challenge.”