SE: Streb Retains PGA Tour Card with Win at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship
Aug 28, 2018 | Men's Golf, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Standing on a driving range in Ohio on Monday afternoon, Robert Streb shared feelings of relief, gratification and frustration. This season has been a little bit of all three for the K-State men's golf alum.
On Sunday, however, the first two feelings trumped the third.
Sporting a light purple polo, his traditional Sunday dress to honor his alma mater, Streb retained his PGA Tour card for the 2019 season by finishing off a win at the Web.com Tour's Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio.
"I usually try to wear (purple) on Sunday. I just haven't played late enough on a Sunday for anybody to see it in a while," Streb said in a phone interview with K-State Sports Extra on Monday, letting out a laugh of relief as he finished the sentence.
He added of securing his PGA Tour card: "It was nice to get that out of the way the first week."
Streb's victory came at the Ohio State University's Scarlet Course in the first of four tournaments in the Web.com Tour Finals. The developmental tour's playoff awards PGA Tour cards to the 25 golfers who earn the most money in the last four events.
With his card already secured, Streb said he can now focus on tuning his game up for next season along with trying to place first in the Web.com Tour Finals.
"Just keep trying to play better and improving a little bit, go the right way. If you get the top money spot out of these four events, you basically get the same status as a guy who kept his card," he said. "So I'm going to shoot for that and if we don't get it, no big deal."
This past weekend allowed him to have that mindset.
Streb's 12-under par 272 placed him in a playoff with another PGA Tour winner, Peter Malnati. Both golfers knew going into the playoff that the second-place prize — $108,000 — would be enough to guarantee them a top-25 spot and a Tour card, so the pressure lightened a tad. The former Wildcat parred the first playoff hole, thanks to a clutch chip, to secure the victory.
"We both knew we had (the PGA Tour card) taken care of," Streb, who will play at the DAP Championship this week in Cleveland, Ohio, said. "Obviously, you still want to win but we kind of had the big stuff taken care of and that was a nice relief."
This season has not been filled with such moments on the course for Streb.
A year ago, he was playing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs on the PGA Tour. He finished 63rd, the second highest placement of his career. Now, after six seasons on the PGA Tour, he was playing for the right to come back for a seventh.
"Obviously I hadn't been playing well, so I was just trying to find a little something," he said, "and last week was good enough."
Streb fired a 6-under par 65 in his opening round and followed it with a 3-under 68 to hold the 36-hole lead going into the weekend. He carded another 68 on Saturday and held on with an even-par 71 on Sunday.
The 31-year-old's short game came together nicely during the tournament. He went 5-for-5 on sand saves, scrambled at a 73.68 percent success rate and ranked tied for 20th in the field for putts per green in regulation.
Streb, who naturally hits a draw, also said he tried to play a fade this week to keep his driver in play more often. He hit 10 of 14 fairways with his driver in the first round and 33 of 56 for the week, helping him reach 73 percent of greens in regulation for the tournament.
"I was putting pretty well. The week before I felt like I just didn't make much with the putter," Streb said. "I was making them early in the week and kind of kept my driver in play, which was big. I've been having a lot of trouble with that. I thought if I could get in the fairway I could score pretty well."
Like any golfer, Streb had been through some playing slumps in his career. He specifically referenced his sophomore season at K-State. After becoming the first freshman in program history to qualify individually for the NCAA Championship, the Edmond, Oklahoma native, struggled most of his second season in Manhattan. Notably, his scoring average jumped up nearly two strokes.
"My sophomore year was pretty rough. Same thing, I could hardly get the ball in play," he said. "I've kind of done it before."
Streb bounced back at K-State, where he finished as one of the most decorated golfers in program history. He still ranks first in school history for tournaments played (52), career rounds played (152) and single-season scoring average (71.59), while sitting second in career scoring average (73.75). He also still holds the team's 72-hole scoring record (280), which he set at the Big 12 Championship as a senior.
The recipe to his return to form each time, Streb said, stems from "running through some fundamentals and finding something you can work with."
"The biggest thing is you have to find something you can use on the golf course," he added. "Just because you hit it well on the range, it doesn't always translate when you have a little pressure on you and you have to get it down the fairway or whatever it might be."
The win marked Streb's first since he captured the 2015 McGladrey Classic on the PGA Tour. Sunday's victory also came nearly six years exactly after his breakthrough win on the Web.com Tour at the Mylan Classic on September 2, 2012, which earned him his first PGA Tour card.
"It seems like a while ago," Streb said of his first Web.com Tour win. "There's been some ups and downs since then but I'm happy to have my card back. It's a little bit different feeling, I guess, because I hadn't gotten a taste of the Tour yet. So a little different circumstances but both were very gratifying."
Standing on a driving range in Ohio on Monday afternoon, Robert Streb shared feelings of relief, gratification and frustration. This season has been a little bit of all three for the K-State men's golf alum.
On Sunday, however, the first two feelings trumped the third.
Sporting a light purple polo, his traditional Sunday dress to honor his alma mater, Streb retained his PGA Tour card for the 2019 season by finishing off a win at the Web.com Tour's Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio.
"I usually try to wear (purple) on Sunday. I just haven't played late enough on a Sunday for anybody to see it in a while," Streb said in a phone interview with K-State Sports Extra on Monday, letting out a laugh of relief as he finished the sentence.
He added of securing his PGA Tour card: "It was nice to get that out of the way the first week."
Streb's victory came at the Ohio State University's Scarlet Course in the first of four tournaments in the Web.com Tour Finals. The developmental tour's playoff awards PGA Tour cards to the 25 golfers who earn the most money in the last four events.
With his card already secured, Streb said he can now focus on tuning his game up for next season along with trying to place first in the Web.com Tour Finals.
"Just keep trying to play better and improving a little bit, go the right way. If you get the top money spot out of these four events, you basically get the same status as a guy who kept his card," he said. "So I'm going to shoot for that and if we don't get it, no big deal."
This past weekend allowed him to have that mindset.
Streb's 12-under par 272 placed him in a playoff with another PGA Tour winner, Peter Malnati. Both golfers knew going into the playoff that the second-place prize — $108,000 — would be enough to guarantee them a top-25 spot and a Tour card, so the pressure lightened a tad. The former Wildcat parred the first playoff hole, thanks to a clutch chip, to secure the victory.
Heart of a champion.@KStateMGolf alum Robert Streb (@TheRealStrebber) wins @NCHC_Golf in a playoff and is headed back to the @PGATOUR! pic.twitter.com/5y6mfLW3Cn
— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) August 26, 2018
"We both knew we had (the PGA Tour card) taken care of," Streb, who will play at the DAP Championship this week in Cleveland, Ohio, said. "Obviously, you still want to win but we kind of had the big stuff taken care of and that was a nice relief."
This season has not been filled with such moments on the course for Streb.
A year ago, he was playing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs on the PGA Tour. He finished 63rd, the second highest placement of his career. Now, after six seasons on the PGA Tour, he was playing for the right to come back for a seventh.
"Obviously I hadn't been playing well, so I was just trying to find a little something," he said, "and last week was good enough."
Streb fired a 6-under par 65 in his opening round and followed it with a 3-under 68 to hold the 36-hole lead going into the weekend. He carded another 68 on Saturday and held on with an even-par 71 on Sunday.
The 31-year-old's short game came together nicely during the tournament. He went 5-for-5 on sand saves, scrambled at a 73.68 percent success rate and ranked tied for 20th in the field for putts per green in regulation.
Streb, who naturally hits a draw, also said he tried to play a fade this week to keep his driver in play more often. He hit 10 of 14 fairways with his driver in the first round and 33 of 56 for the week, helping him reach 73 percent of greens in regulation for the tournament.
"I was putting pretty well. The week before I felt like I just didn't make much with the putter," Streb said. "I was making them early in the week and kind of kept my driver in play, which was big. I've been having a lot of trouble with that. I thought if I could get in the fairway I could score pretty well."
Like any golfer, Streb had been through some playing slumps in his career. He specifically referenced his sophomore season at K-State. After becoming the first freshman in program history to qualify individually for the NCAA Championship, the Edmond, Oklahoma native, struggled most of his second season in Manhattan. Notably, his scoring average jumped up nearly two strokes.
"My sophomore year was pretty rough. Same thing, I could hardly get the ball in play," he said. "I've kind of done it before."
Streb bounced back at K-State, where he finished as one of the most decorated golfers in program history. He still ranks first in school history for tournaments played (52), career rounds played (152) and single-season scoring average (71.59), while sitting second in career scoring average (73.75). He also still holds the team's 72-hole scoring record (280), which he set at the Big 12 Championship as a senior.
The recipe to his return to form each time, Streb said, stems from "running through some fundamentals and finding something you can work with."
"The biggest thing is you have to find something you can use on the golf course," he added. "Just because you hit it well on the range, it doesn't always translate when you have a little pressure on you and you have to get it down the fairway or whatever it might be."
The win marked Streb's first since he captured the 2015 McGladrey Classic on the PGA Tour. Sunday's victory also came nearly six years exactly after his breakthrough win on the Web.com Tour at the Mylan Classic on September 2, 2012, which earned him his first PGA Tour card.
"It seems like a while ago," Streb said of his first Web.com Tour win. "There's been some ups and downs since then but I'm happy to have my card back. It's a little bit different feeling, I guess, because I hadn't gotten a taste of the Tour yet. So a little different circumstances but both were very gratifying."
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