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Safeway Open: Steele beats Kizzire
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Brendan Steele made amends for his final-round collapse at Silverado Resort a year earlier by making birdies on the final three holes to win the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif., on Sunday.
Steele, who led after each of the first three rounds of what then was called the Frys.com Open in 2015, shot a 76 in the final round and tied for 17th.
This time, he closed with a seven-under par 65 that included birdies from three, 17 and eight feet on the final three holes to take the clubhouse lead by one over Patton Kizzire. When Kizzire was unable to erase the deficit, Steele, 33, won for the second time in six-plus seasons on the PGA Tour.
“This one’s awesome, home state, start the year out and now I’m going back to the Masters, that’s all amazing," he said, "and this is a little bit of redemption for last year. It’s nice to close it off this way.”
Kizzire, who finished the third round with a one-stroke lead on Sunday morning, shot a two-under par 70, but mostly scrambled for pars on the final seven holes and lost by one.
Paul Casey, Michael Kim and Johnson Wagner tied for third.
Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, followed three 69s with a bogey-free five-under par 67 and finished tied for eighth.