Steele holds nerve to lift first PGA title

BRENDAN STEELE led from start to finish on the final day of the Valero Texas Open to claim his maiden PGA Tour title.

The 28-year-old Amer-ican took a one-stroke lead into the final day and a one-under round of 71 was enough for him to win the title by one stroke from Charley Hoffman and Kevin Chappell.

Steele had birdies on the second and seventh, and a bogey at the fifth, then parred each of the last 11 holes to finish eight under for the tournament.

It was a close thing on the par-four 18th, though, as he missed the green with his second shot before getting up and down to par the hole for victory.

That meant a bogey at the 17th, his first and only in a round of two under, proved costly for Chappell, while Hoffman’s four under, highlighted by an eagle at the par-five eighth, was not quite enough.

Tour rookie Steele had never finished higher than 17th before but said he didnot feel nervous protecting his lead.

“I was a lot more calm today,” he said: “When you’ve got the one-shot lead it’s not even your tournament.

“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.”

As with much of the tournament, the fourth day was played out amid strongwinds, something that may have led to Chappell’s crucial bogey.

He went wide right with his second shot on the 17th and could not recover.

“I’ll be honest, I think I just fell asleep,” said Chappell.

“I felt the wind was dead into me. I should have known it was a little left to right.”

One stroke behind Chappell and Hoffman was Brandt Snedeker in fourth, while Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson was the leading European with a share of fifth on five under.

Scotland’s Martin Laird finished three under for a share of ninth, while defending champion Adam Scott of Australia had a tough final day, going fourover to finish level par for the tournament.