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Steve Stricker

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Steve Stricker
Stricker in 2011
Personal information
Full nameSteven Charles Stricker
NicknameMr. September, Strick
Born (1967-02-23) February 23, 1967 (age 57)
Edgerton, Wisconsin
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceMadison, Wisconsin, U.S.
SpouseNicki Tiziani (m. 1993)
Children2
Career
CollegeUniversity of Illinois
Turned professional1990
Current tour(s)PGA Tour (joined 1994)
PGA Tour Champions (joined 2017)
Professional wins28
Highest ranking2 (September 6, 2009)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour12
European Tour1
PGA Tour Champions5
Other11
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT6: 2009
PGA Championship2nd: 1998
U.S. Open5th/T5: 1998, 1999
The Open Championship4th: 2016
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour Comeback
Player of the Year
2006, 2007
Payne Stewart Award2012
Byron Nelson Award2013

Steven Charles Stricker (born February 23, 1967) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has twelve victories on the PGA Tour, including the WGC-Match Play title in 2001 and two FedEx Cup playoff events. His most successful season on tour came at age 42 in 2009, with three victories and a runner-up finish on the money list. Stricker spent over 250 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking,[2] reaching a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in September 2009. Stricker will serve as U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2020 matches, set for Whistling Straits in his home state of Wisconsin.

Early life

Born in Edgerton, Wisconsin, Stricker grew up playing golf at both Lake Ripley Country Club in nearby Cambridge and at the Edgerton Towne Country Club in Edgerton. A 1990 graduate of the University of Illinois, Stricker earned All-American honors as a member of the Illini golf team in 1988 and 1989.[3][4]

Professional career

Stricker turned professional in 1990 and began his career on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour,[3] where he won two tournaments. He joined the PGA Tour in 1994, and his first success at the top level came in 1996, when Stricker notched two victories (Kemper Open, Motorola Western Open) and seven top ten finishes on his way to finishing fourth on the 1996 PGA Tour money list.[5]

In 1998, Stricker played himself into contention in the final round of the PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club near Seattle. Thanks to a back-nine surge, PGA Tour veteran Vijay Singh bested Stricker down the stretch and claimed a two-stroke victory. This runner-up finish remains Stricker's best result in a major championship to date. Stricker has finished inside the top-20 six times at the U.S. Open, with his best finish a fifth-place in 1999 at Pinehurst No. 2. He won his third and most prestigious PGA Tour title at the WGC Match Play Championship in 2001, where he defeated Pierre Fulke 2 and 1 in Australia, to earn the $1,000,000 prize. This remains as the only time that the WGC Match Play Championship was played outside of the United States.[6]

Stricker lost his tour card in 2004. At age 39 in 2006, relying on sponsor exemptions, he managed seven top-ten finishes and was voted the tour's Comeback Player of the Year. In 2007 he won his fourth PGA Tour title at The Barclays on August 26, ending an 11-year victory drought on American soil, although he had previously triumphed down in Australia in 2001. This run of success earned him a spot on the Presidents Cup team in 2007.[4]

After his victory at The Barclays, which was the first of the four FedEx Cup playoff events, Stricker reached No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest career ranking at that point. Stricker finished runner-up in the 2007 FedEx Cup Playoffs behind Tiger Woods, and was again selected as Comeback Player of the Year. He was also inducted into the Wisconsin State Golf Association Hall of Fame in 2007.

At the Mercedes Benz Championship, the opening event of the 2008 season, Stricker lost out in a play-off to Daniel Chopra. This result took Stricker to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking, again at the time his highest ranking to date.[7]

At the Bob Hope Classic in January 2009, Stricker shot third and fourth round scores of 61 and 62, at the PGA West Palmer and Nicklaus courses, to set the 36-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour at 123, beating a record that Pat Perez had held for only two days. (This record fell in October when Troy Matteson shot 61-61=122 at the Frys.com Open.) His four-round total of 33-under-par in the five-round event also set the PGA Tour record for lowest score relative to par for 72 holes, exceeding Ernie Els' total of 31 under par in the 2003 Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua. The third-round 61 was Stricker's best score on tour to that point, but a 77 in the final round dropped him into a tie for third.[5]

Stricker won his fifth PGA Tour title at Colonial in Texas at the end of May 2009, with a playoff win over Tim Clark and Steve Marino. The win was aided by a 60-foot (18 m) chip-in on the 71st hole.[8] He won again in July at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois. After the second round was rained-out on Friday, the field was forced to play 36 holes on Sunday. Stricker shot an afternoon round of 64, which included a hole-out wedge shot for eagle on the 6th hole, and by three strokes over runners-up Zach Johnson, Brandt Snedeker, and Brett Quigley. He also matched his career low round on tour with a second round of 61 (−10).[9]

Stricker's third win of 2009, and seventh overall, came in September at the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second of four playoff events. He began the final round tied with Retief Goosen and Sean O'Hair, and birdied the final hole to win the event by one stroke over Jason Dufner and Scott Verplank. It was Stricker's second FedEx Cup playoff win, a win that also vaulted him ahead of Tiger Woods to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and vaulted him to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest ranking achieved during his career.[10] Stricker has been called "Mr. September" due to his success in the FedEx Cup playoffs, where he has never finished outside the top-25 in his first ten career starts.[5][11]

In February 2010, Stricker won his eighth tour title at the Northern Trust Open with a 16-under-par 268 winning total. With this win at Riviera, he passed Phil Mickelson and regained his ranking as World No. 2.[12]

In July, Stricker shot a career-low 60 (−11) in the first round of the John Deere Classic.[13] However, a 59 shot by Paul Goydos incredibly put him one stroke back of the lead. He followed with rounds of 66 and 62, for a total of 188, to set a tour 54-hole scoring record.[14] He then shot 70 on Sunday to win his ninth PGA Tour win, two strokes ahead of Goydos.

In June 2011, Stricker won at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio, his tenth tour title.[15] He opened with 68 and bettered this with 67 in the second round. However, this was made special by the hole-in-one he recorded at the par three 8th hole to hold a three stroke advantage at the halfway stage. Remarkably, he then opened round three with two eagles in the first five holes to open up a six-shot lead midway through round three, but some uncharacteristic mistakes on the back nine saw him fall back towards the rest of the field. He held on to the 36-hole lead to eventually win by one stroke over runners-up Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe. With this victory, Stricker became the highest-ranked American in the Official World Golf Ranking, at fourth in the world. For the first time in his career, 44-year-old Stricker was ranked higher than all other American golfers, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Stricker played the tournament at −20 for the front nine, a record by 6 shots, versus +4 for the back nine.

Stricker gained his eleventh tour win at the John Deere Classic in July, sinking a 30-foot (9 m) birdie putt at the 72nd hole, one stroke ahead of runner-up Kyle Stanley. In a commanding position throughout most of Sunday's round, Stricker bogeyed the 15th and 16th to fall two strokes behind Stanley. He then bounced back with a birdie on the par five 17th while Stanley made bogeyed the 18th. Stricker, tied for the lead at this point, drove into a fairway bunker off the tee and then played his second shot just over the back of the green, but holed the putt from the fringe for the victory.[16] This was Stricker's third straight victory at the John Deere Classic becoming just the 10th golfer since World War II to win a tournament three straight times.[16]

Stricker tied a major championship record with a 63 in the first round at the PGA Championship in 2011, and led by two shots. His next three days were 74-69-73, and he tied for twelfth. Stricker's career earnings are over $44 million through the end of the 2018–19 season, among the highest of those without a major title.

Stricker started the 2012 season with a win in the season-opening Tournament of Champions at Kapalua on Maui. He shot a ten-under 63 on day two and held the lead until the very end, three strokes ahead of runner-up Martin Laird. It was his twelfth PGA Tour title.[17] He missed the cut in May at The Players Championship, his first since the 2009 PGA Championship. It ended a streak of 49 consecutive cuts, which was the longest on tour.[18]

At the start of the 2013 season, Stricker announced he would cut his schedule "in half," hoping to play just "10 or 12" tournaments.[19] As the defending champion, he finished runner-up at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions despite suffering from a herniated disc. He then reached the quarterfinals at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, his best performance since his victory in 2001.[5]

In 2017, Stricker joined the PGA Tour Champions. In his first event, the Tucson Conquistadores Classic, he finished one stroke behind Tom Lehman. Stricker asked the USGA for a special exemption to play in the 2017 U.S. Open held in his home state, but his request was denied. He eventually earned entry through a qualifying tournament in Memphis. Stricker was the captain of the victorious U.S. team in the 2017 Presidents Cup.

In March 2018, Stricker won his first event on the PGA Tour Champions, the Cologuard Classic by two strokes. He then won his second straight start at the Rapiscan Systems Classic in Saucier, Mississippi. In September 2018, he won the Sanford International tournament on the PGA Tour Champions.

In 2018, U.S. captain Jim Furyk named Stricker as a non-playing vice-captain for the 2018 Ryder Cup team. The U.S. lost 17 1/2 to 10 1/2 to the European team.

In 2019, Stricker won his first senior major championship at the Regions Tradition, claiming a six stroke win over the field. Then in June of the same year, Stricker won his second senior major at the U.S. Senior Open, again by six strokes over Jerry Kelly and David Toms.[20]

Personal

Stricker married into a golfing family. His father-in-law, Dennis Tiziani, and his brother-in-law, Mario Tiziani, both played on the PGA Tour. He and his wife, Nicki, have two children. Nicki is often her husband's caddie.[4]

Professional wins (28)

PGA Tour wins (12)

Legend
World Golf Championships (1)
FedEx Cup playoff events (2)
Other PGA Tour (9)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 May 26, 1996 Kemper Open 69-68-65-68=270 −14 3 strokes United States Brad Faxon, United States Scott Hoch,
United States Mark O'Meara, New Zealand Grant Waite
2 Jul 7, 1996 Motorola Western Open 65-69-67-69=270 −18 8 strokes United States Billy Andrade, United States Jay Don Blake
3 Jan 7, 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship 2 & 1 Sweden Pierre Fulke
4 Aug 26, 2007 The Barclays 67-67-65-69=268 −16 2 strokes South Korea K. J. Choi
5 May 31, 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial 63-63-69-68=263 −17 Playoff South Africa Tim Clark, United States Steve Marino
6 Jul 12, 2009 John Deere Classic 71-61-67-64=264 −20 3 strokes United States Zach Johnson, United States Brett Quigley,
United States Brandt Snedeker
7 Sep 7, 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship 63-72-65-67=267 −17 1 stroke United States Jason Dufner, United States Scott Verplank
8 Feb 7, 2010 Northern Trust Open 67-65-66-70=268 −16 2 strokes England Luke Donald
9 Jul 11, 2010 John Deere Classic (2) 60-66-62-70=258 −26 2 strokes United States Paul Goydos
10 Jun 5, 2011 Memorial Tournament 68-67-69-68=272 −16 1 stroke United States Brandt Jobe, United States Matt Kuchar
11 Jul 10, 2011 John Deere Classic (3) 66-64-63-69=262 −22 1 stroke United States Kyle Stanley
12 Jan 9, 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions 68-63-69-69=269 −23 3 strokes Scotland Martin Laird

PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2008 Mercedes-Benz Championship Sweden Daniel Chopra Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
2 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial South Africa Tim Clark, United States Steve Marino Won with birdie on second extra hole

Canadian Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Jun 3, 1990 Payless-Pepsi Victoria Open 66-68-70-72=276 −8 Playoff United States Todd Hamilton
2 Aug 29, 1993 Canadian PGA Championship 67-71-68-68=274 −10 5 strokes United States John Restino

Other wins (9)

PGA Tour Champions wins (5)

Legend
PGA Tour Champions major championships (2)
Other PGA Tour Champions (3)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Mar 4, 2018 Cologuard Classic 66-70-69=205 −14 2 strokes United States Scott Dunlap, United States Jerry Kelly,
United States Gene Sauers
2 Mar 25, 2018 Rapiscan Systems Classic 68-69-68=205 −11 3 strokes United States Billy Andrade
3 Sep 23, 2018 Sanford International 63-67-67=197 −13 4 strokes United States Tim Petrovic, United States Jerry Smith
4 May 13, 2019 Regions Tradition 68-64-70-68=270 −18 6 strokes United States Billy Andrade, United States Paul Goydos,
United States David Toms
5 Jun 30, 2019 U.S. Senior Open 62-64-66-69=261 −19 6 strokes United States Jerry Kelly, United States David Toms

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2019 American Family Insurance Championship South Africa Retief Goosen, United States Jerry Kelly Kelly won with birdie on third extra hole

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament CUT CUT T38
U.S. Open 83 T13 T60 T36 T5 5
The Open Championship T22 T62 T52 CUT
PGA Championship T23 T26 CUT 2 CUT
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament T19 T10 CUT CUT CUT T6
U.S. Open T27 CUT T16 CUT T6 T13 T29 T23
The Open Championship CUT T42 T59 T8 T7 T52
PGA Championship CUT T66 CUT T7 T23 T39 CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament T30 T11 T47 T20 T31 T28 T16
U.S. Open T58 T19 T15 T8 T21 T16 T20
The Open Championship T55 T12 T23 4 T37
PGA Championship T18 T12 T7 T12 T7 T30 T42 T54
Tournament 2019 2020
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship CUT CUT
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship NT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 2 6 16 11
PGA Championship 0 1 0 1 4 9 22 15
U.S. Open 0 0 0 2 4 13 22 19
The Open Championship 0 0 0 1 3 6 15 13
Totals 0 1 0 4 13 34 75 58
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 27 (2010 Masters – 2018 US Open)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2006 U.S. Open – 2006 PGA)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Players Championship T23 T11 CUT CUT T51 T6 CUT CUT T19 CUT CUT T52 CUT T22
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
The Players Championship T12 CUT T37 T13 T38 T41 T23
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship n/a 2 & 1 Sweden Pierre Fulke

Results timeline

Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Match Play R64 R32 1 R64 R64 R16 R32 R64 R64 R16 QF R64
Championship NT1 T35 T6 T13 T16 T18 T8 2 57
Invitational T41 T43 T6 T9 14 T2 13 T63
Champions

1Cancelled due to 9/11

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary

Season Wins Earnings ($) Rank[21]
1990 0 3,974 255
1991 0 0 n/a
1992 0 5,550 261
1993 0 46,171 186
1994 0 334,409 50
1995 0 438,931 40
1996 2 1,383,739 4
1997 0 167,652 130
1998 0 1,313,948 13
1999 0 662,461 64
2000 0 418,780 113
2001 1 1,676,229 30
2002 0 789,713 88
2003 0 150,590 188
2004 0 440,906 151
2005 0 397,640 162
2006 0 1,811,811 34
2007 1 4,663,077 4
2008 0 2,438,304 22
2009 3 6,332,636 2
2010 2 4,190,235 5
2011 2 3,992,785 8
2012 1 3,420,021 18
2013 0 4,440,532 7
2014 0 1,154,747 89
2015 0 269,701 180
2016 0 1,418,647 74
2017 0 1,002,036 102
2018 0 582,566 147
2019 0 135,670 215
2020 0 212,582 187
Career* 12 44,296,043 16[22]

* As of the 2020 season.

Senior major championships

Wins (2)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runners-up
2019 Regions Tradition 4 shot lead −18 (68-64-70-68=270) 6 strokes United States Billy Andrade, United States Paul Goydos, United States David Toms
2019 U.S. Senior Open 6 shot lead −19 (62-64-66-69=261) 6 strokes United States Jerry Kelly, United States David Toms

Senior results timeline

Tournament 2017 2018 2019 2020
The Tradition T13 T2 1 NT
Senior PGA Championship T41 NT
U.S. Senior Open 1 NT
Senior Players Championship 6 T23
The Senior Open Championship NT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

PGA Tour Champions career summary

Season Starts Cuts
made
Wins
(majors)
2nd 3rd Top-10 Top-25 Best
finish
Earnings
($)
Money
list rank
2017 6 6 0 1 3 5 6 2 569,250 37[23]
2018 7 7 3 2 1 7 7 1 1,196,235 13[24]
2019 9 9 2 (2) 1 0 6 7 1 1,534,327 8[25]
Career* 22 22 5 (2) 4 4 18 20 1 3,299,812 139[26]

* As of end of 2019 season

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ "Week 36 2009 Ending 6 Sep 2009" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  2. ^ "Official World Golf Ranking Advanced Statistics". Golfrankingstats.com. July 14, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Steve Stricker". PGA Tour. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c "Steve Stricker – Profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d "Steve Stricker – Season Results". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  6. ^ "Austin Country Club to host 2016 Dell Match Play". PGA Tour. April 30, 2015. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015.
  7. ^ "Steve Stricker – Ranking Graph". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  8. ^ "Stricker wins Texas sudden death". BBC Sport. May 31, 2009. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
  9. ^ "Stricker captures John Deere Classic for second win of season". USA Today. Associated Press. July 12, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2009.
  10. ^ "Week 36 – Steve Stricker is the New World Number Two after Victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship". Official World Golf Ranking. September 7, 2009. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  11. ^ "Stricker becoming 'Mr. September' in FedEx Cup". Golf.com. Associated Press.
  12. ^ "Steve Stricker beats Luke Donald for Northern Trust win". BBC Sport. February 8, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  13. ^ Milne, Doug (July 8, 2010). "Notebook, Round 1: John Deere Classic". PGA Tour. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  14. ^ "Stricker sets 54-hole PGA Tour record". ESPN. Associated Press. July 11, 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  15. ^ "Stricker wins the PGA Memorial Tournament". BBC Sport. June 5, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  16. ^ a b "Stricker wins third consecutive John Deere Classic title". PGA Tour. July 10, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  17. ^ "Steve Stricker wins from Martin Laird". BBC Sport. January 9, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  18. ^ "Stricker's cut streak comes to end". PGA Tour. May 11, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  19. ^ "Stricker to cut back on schedule". PGA Tour. January 4, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  20. ^ Strege, John (June 30, 2019). "Steve Stricker wins the U.S. Senior Open by six strokes, his second senior major of the year". Golf World. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  21. ^ "Official Money". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  22. ^ "Career Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  23. ^ "2017 PGA Champions Tour Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  24. ^ "2018 PGA Champions Tour Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  25. ^ "2019 PGA Champions Tour Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  26. ^ "PGA Champions Tour Career Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 28, 2019.

External links