Oct 9, 2012 4 min read

CANONSBURG – Tiger Woods wears a red shirt in the final round of his PGA events to bring him luck.

Robert Streb has his purple and white golf shoes, the colors of his alma mater, Kansas State University.

Streb broke out the colorful shoes for the final round of the Web.com Tour’s Mylan Classic Sunday and played a nearly flawless round of golf.

Streb shot a final-round 64 to turn a close tournament into a rout in golf terms, winning by four strokes.

It’s been quite a summer for this 25-year-old, first-year pro from Edmond, Okla. He was married two months ago, began his Web.com Tour career this past winter, and became the 13th first-time champion on tour this season.

Sitting in the clubhouse following a victory that earned him enough money on the Web.com Tour to secure his PGA Tour card for next season, Streb seemed a little surprised by his success.

It was his first victory that wasn’t played on his home course of Oak Tree Country Club in Edmond.

“I finally won somewhere other than my home golf course,” he said. “I won a couple of state opens on my home golf course, so now I’ve won somewhere else and it feels pretty good. The competition on this tour is very good, compared to a state open.”

Streb bought the golf shoes a few years back and had them customized with the color scheme. He also wore a purple shirt and had a similar shade on the script on his white golf cap.

Superstitious or not, Streb will find success with similar performances. He made only three bogeys in this tournament, and sandwiched two rounds of 7-under 64 between two rounds of 2-under 69.

His 24 putts in the final round were impressive, considering the perplexing quality of the tilted greens that make Southpointe Golf Club so difficult.

Streb was helped, like every other golfer, by the week’s rains, which slowed the greens and allowed for bolder approach shots and lower scores.

The colors might have brought Streb some luck. His hard-charging, 25-foot putt on the par-5 eighth hit the back of the hole and dropped in. A fraction of an inch to either side, and it might not have stopped until it reached the No. 9 tee.

That could have altered the round and the outcome.

Instead, he recorded one of his nine birdies on the day.

Streb is now one of the few golfers on this tour – approximately 10 – who have earned a PGA Tour card.

The players who compete on the Web.com Tour do so with a similar goal in mind. They want to play well enough to not have to play on this tour anymore. They want to receive golf’s version of a baseball call-up.

“I kind of reached (my goals) for now,” he said. “I have to set new ones for next year.”

And he hopes someone new, with different school colors painted on their shoes, will be holding the winner’s trophy and thinking about the future.

Assistant sports editor Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com.