Steele wins Nationwide Tour Championship in playoff

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Brendan Steele birdied the third and fourth playoff holes to win the Nationwide Tour Championship.

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Californian Brendan Steele had two important tasks on hand entering the final round of the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island, the last event of the 2010 season: turn his five-stroke 54-hole lead into a victory and secure his 2011 PGA TOUR card by finishing inside THE 25. Steele crossed both tasks off his list after defeating Texan Colt Knost with a birdie on the fourth playoff hole Sunday to notch his first-career win and finish No. 6 on the money list.

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Steele, who began the week No. 30 on the money list, and Knost, who started the week at No. 36, made their way around the 7,446-yard Daniel Island Club in 275 strokes over four days to finish four better than their nearest competitor, Joe Affrunti.

Paired with fellow Californian James Hahn, Steele entered the final round at 14 under but struggled somewhat with a 1-over 73 on Sunday. That opened the door for Knost who posted a bogey-free 4-under 68.

When Steele and Knost ended regulation play locked at 13-under they headed back to the par-5 18th hole to determine who would hoist the 2010 Nationwide Tour Championship trophy. They played the par-5 18th twice, making pars, then the par-4 17th hole, making birdies. They returned to 18th where Steele birdied and Knost pared.

When Steele rolled in the eight-foot birdie putt on the fourth extra hole he was headed to the PGA TOUR for the first time, collecting a check for $180,000 from the $1 million purse. The 27-year-old's best previous finish on Tour was fourth at the Chattanooga Classic three weeks ago.

"I'd like to say it was a lot of fun but it wasn't," said the champion. "It was an absolute grind from the first tee shot all the way to the end."

"The playoff was actually a little bit more relaxing than the rest of it if you can believe that," Steele added. "The win wasn't the only thing that was important here. I needed to at least finish strong so I got my card for next year."

Knost, the 2007 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Public Links Champion, moved to No. 15 on the official money list after recording his best finish of the year, and will be headed to the PGA TOUR for the second time in his young career.

Class of 2010

Get to know the 25 Nationwide Tour graduates who received their 2011 PGA TOUR cards after the Nationwide Tour Championship by clicking here.

"It's great to be going back," said Knost, who played on TOUR in 2009 after finishing No. 6 on the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list. "I feel like I'm a lot more prepared this time around. Obviously I would have liked to have won today but my goal was to go back to the PGA TOUR and I'm going and I'm excited."

Steele's first Tour win came in his 65th start. He finished T3 in greens in regulation -- hitting 53 of 72 -- and T6 in putting with 111 putts.

"It feels pretty good to win but it hasn't set in just yet," said the 2005 University of California-Riverside graduate. "Once I'm able to take it all in and realize what it means for me and my career and my life it'll be pretty amazing."

When Steele lifted up the Tiffany & Co. trophy he became the fourth player in tournament history to make the Nationwide Tour Championship their first career win.

Final-Round Notes:

• Brendan Steele's five-shot lead after 54 holes was the largest in Nationwide Tour Championship history. Four players held the record previously (four-stroke lead), with David Branshaw being the most recent (2005).

• The third-round leader/co-leader of the Nationwide Tour Championship has gone on to win 15 of 17 times.

• In Tour history, the most players to play their way into THE 25 at the Nationwide Tour Championship was two. This year four players earned their TOUR card by virtue of their performance this week: Brendan Steele/1st/6th on the money list, Colt Knost/2nd/15th, David Hearn/4th/21st, Joe Affrunti/3rd/22nd.

• The Nationwide Tour's youngest player, 22-year-old Jamie Lovemark captured the money title with earnings of $452,951. The former USC All-American eclipsed Stewart Cink (23 years, four months and 29 days) as the Tour's youngest leading money winner ever. He fired rounds of 69-72-70-71 to finish T7.

• Paul Claxton made a Tour record ninth appearance this week at the Nationwide Tour Championship. Claxton fired rounds of 71-71-70-71 to finish tenth.

• Limping every step of the way and walking with a cane in between shots, Peter Tomasulo posted rounds of 72-79-70-77 to finish 58th and No. 23 on the money list.

• Australian Steven Bowditch played by himself Sunday morning starting at 7:48 a.m. and needed just 2 hours and 42 minutes to fire a 7-under 65. His round included 10 birdies, five pars and three bogeys. He finished T46 and No. 17 on the money list.

• Nobody played the par-5s Nos. 6 and 18 better than Jhonattan Vegas. The Venezuelan birdied both holes all four days except the third round where he eagled both. Vegas played the two par-5s 10-under and finished the tournament at 3-under, T16.

• This week's scoring average was 72.695. Last year's scoring average was 71.043.

• Here's how the "bubble boys" faired this week:

• Brendan Steele became the 15th first-time winner this season. Four players in Tour history have made the Nationwide Tour Championship their first career win.