Steve Stricker

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Steve Stricker
— Golfer —
Steve Stricker.jpg
Personal information
Full name Steven Charles Stricker
Nickname Mr. September, Strick
Born (1967-02-23) February 23, 1967 (age 57)
Edgerton, Wisconsin
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Spouse Nicki Stricker (m. 1993)
Children 2
Career
College University of Illinois
Turned professional 1990
Current tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 1994)
Professional wins 22
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 12
Other 10
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T6: 2009
U.S. Open 5th/T5: 1998, 1999
The Open Championship T7: 2008
PGA Championship 2nd: 1998
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour Comeback
Player of the Year		 2006, 2007
Payne Stewart Award 2012
Byron Nelson Award 2013

Steven Charles Stricker (born February 23, 1967) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won 12 tournaments on the PGA Tour including the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and two FedEx Cup playoff events. His most successful season on tour came in 2009, when he had three tournament victories and finished second on the money list. He has ranked as high as No 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking.[1] He spent 57 consecutive weeks in the world top-10 from August 26, 2007 to September 21, 2008, was there for a further 157 consecutive weeks from May 31, 2009 to May 26, 2012, and has a total of 253 weeks in the top-10.[2]

Early life

Stricker was born in Edgerton, Wisconsin. He 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 golf team in 1988 and 1989.[3][4]

Professional career

Stricker turned professional in 1990,[3] and began his career on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour, where he won two tournaments. He joined the PGA Tour in 1994. 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 in Redmond, Washington. 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 the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. He won his third and most prestigious PGA Tour title at the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, where he defeated Pierre Fulke 2 and 1 in Australia, to earn the $1,000,000 prize. This was the one and only occasion that the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship was played outside of the United States.[6]

Thereafter Stricker went through a slump, and lost his tour card in 2004 after several years of poor form. In 2006, relying on sponsor exemptions, he managed seven top-10 finishes and was voted PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year. His renewed form continued throughout 2007 and he won his fourth PGA Tour title at The Barclays on August 26, 2007, 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 in the 2007 Presidents Cup team.[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. Again, he was selected as PGA Tour 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]

In the 2009 Bob Hope Classic, 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 would fall 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. He shot a 77 in the final round, however, and ended up finishing in a tie for third.[5]

Stricker won his fifth PGA Tour title at the 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial at the end of May with a playoff win over Tim Clark and Steve Marino. This win was made possible by a crucial 60-foot chip-in on the 71st hole of the championship.[8]

Stricker won again in 2009 at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois for his sixth career victory on the PGA. 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. He went on to win the event by three strokes over 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.[1] 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][10]

In February 2010, Stricker won his eighth PGA Tour title at the 2010 Northern Trust Open after shooting a final round 70, which was enough for a 16-under-par 268 winning total. With this win, he deposed Phil Mickelson and regained his ranking as World No. 2.[11]

In July 2010, Stricker shot a career-low 60 (−11) in the first round of the John Deere Classic at TPC at Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.[12] 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 the PGA Tour's 54-hole scoring record.[13] He then shot 70 on Sunday to win by two strokes over Goydos and earn his ninth PGA Tour win.

In June 2011, Stricker added another prestigious title to his career resume with a victory at the 2011 Memorial Tournament. This was the tenth PGA Tour title of his career.[14] Stricker opened the tournament with a 4 under round of 68 and bettered this on day two with a 67, 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 Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe. With this victory Stricker became the highest-ranked American in the Official World Golf Ranking at No. 4 in the world. For the first time in his career, 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 won his second tournament of 2011 and 11th overall on the PGA Tour at the John Deere Classic. He beat Kyle Stanley by one stroke after holing a 30-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole of regulation play. Stricker had been in a commanding position throughout most of Sunday's round, however he 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 bogey on 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 would hole the putt from the fringe for the victory.[15] 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.[15]

Stricker shot a major championship record 63 in the first round at the 2011 PGA Championship and led by 2 shots after 1 round. However he faded away on the last 3 days shooting rounds of 74-69-73 and ended up in a T12. Stricker's career earnings are over $41 million, among the highest of those without a major championship win.[16] In 2016, the twelve-time winner was the active winningest PGA Tour player without a major victory.

Stricker started the 2012 season with a win at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, Hawaii. He shot a 10 under par round of 63 on day two and held the lead until the very end, winning by three strokes over Martin Laird. It was his twelfth PGA Tour title.[17] He missed the cut at the 2012 Players Championship, his first since the 2009 PGA Championship. It ended a streak of 49 consecutive cuts, which was the longest on the PGA Tour.[18]

At the start of the 2013 season, Stricker announced he would cut his schedule "in half" in 2013, 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 he won the tournament in 2001.[5]

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 (22)

PGA Tour wins (12)

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

Other wins (10)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP CUT CUT DNP T38
U.S. Open 83 DNP T13 T60 T36 T5 5
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP T22 T62 T52 CUT
PGA Championship DNP DNP T23 T26 CUT 2 CUT
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament T19 T10 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT CUT T6
U.S. Open T27 CUT T16 DNP CUT DNP T6 T13 T29 T23
The Open Championship CUT T42 T59 DNP DNP DNP DNP T8 T7 T52
PGA Championship CUT T66 CUT DNP DNP DNP T7 T23 T39 CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Masters Tournament T30 T11 T47 T20 T31 T28
U.S. Open T58 T19 T15 T8 T21 DNP
The Open Championship T55 T12 T23 DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship T18 T12 T7 T12 T7 T30

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 2 5 15 10
U.S. Open 0 0 0 2 4 11 19 17
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 2 5 13 11
PGA Championship 0 1 0 1 4 9 18 13
Totals 0 1 0 3 12 30 65 51
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 20 (2010 Masters – 2015 PGA, current)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2006 U.S. Open – 2006 PGA)

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin of victory 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
Accenture Match Play Championship R64 R32 1 R64 DNP DNP DNP DNP R64 R16
Cadillac Championship DNP DNP NT1 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T35 T6
Bridgestone Invitational DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T41 T43
Tournament 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Accenture Match Play Championship R32 R64 R64 R16 QF R64
Cadillac Championship T13 T16 T18 T8 2 57
Bridgestone Invitational T6 T9 14 T2 13 T63
HSBC Champions DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

1Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary

Season Wins Earnings ($) Rank
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
Career* 12 40,944,541 8

* As of the 2014–15 season.

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

Equipment

  • Driver: Titleist 909D3
  • Fairway Wood: Titleist 906F2
  • Hybrid: Titleist 909H
  • Irons: Titleist 710 AP2 (3–PW)
  • Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design (54°, 60°)
  • Putter: Odyssey White Hot #2
  • Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

As of the 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions[20]

See also

References

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External links

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