From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Steve Stricker | |
|---|---|
 |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Steven Charles Stricker |
| Born | February 23, 1967 Edgerton, Wisconsin |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 14 st) |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Residence | Madison, Wisconsin |
| Career | |
| College | University of Illinois |
| Turned professional | 1990 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour (joined 1990) |
| Professional wins | 16 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 8 |
| Best results in Major Championships | |
| The Masters | T6: 2009 |
| U.S. Open | 5th/T5: 1998, 1999 |
| Open Championship | T7: 2008 |
| PGA Championship | 2nd: 1998 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year | 2006, 2007 |
Steven Charles Stricker (born February 23, 1967) is an American professional golfer and is currently ranked No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He is best known for his exceptional putting touch along with his simple and smooth stroke.
Career
Stricker was born in Edgerton, Wisconsin. A 1990 graduate of the University of Illinois, Stricker turned professional in 1990, and began his career on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour, where he won two tournaments. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour. His most successful season on tour came in 2009, when he had three tournament victories and finished second on the money list.
He first 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. Stricker's third win came 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. He won the The Barclays tournament on August 26, 2007, ending an 11-year losing span on American soil.
In 1998, Steve 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. The runner-up finish remains Stricker's best result in a major championship.
Stricker has six times finished inside the Top 20 at the U.S. Open, his best finish a fifth-place score at the 1999 U.S. Open played at Pinehurst No. 2.
Stricker suffered 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, qualifying for the Presidents Cup and after his victory at The Barclays, Stricker reached a high of 4th in the Official World Golf Rankings. Stricker finished runner-up in the 2007 FedEx Cup Playoffs to Tiger Woods. He was again voted PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year in 2007. He was also inducted into the Wisconsin State Golf Association Hall of Fame in 2007.
In 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 3rd in the world rankings. He has spent over 50 weeks in the top-10 of the rankings since 2007In 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 is Stricker's best score on Tour. He shot a 77 in the final round and ended up finishing in a tie for third.
Stricker won his fifth tournament on tour at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial at the end of May with a playoff win over Tim Clark and Steve Marino. This was helped by a crucial 60-foot chip-in on the penultimate 71st hole of the championship.[3]
Stricker won again in 2009 at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois. After a rained-out second round on Friday, the field was forced to play 36 holes on Sunday. Stricker shot an afternoon round of 64, which included a holed 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).
Stricker's third win of 2009 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 second in the Official World Golf Rankings.[5] Stricker has been called "Mr. September" due to his success in the FedEx Cup playoffs, where he has never finished below the top-25 in any of his ten career starts.
In February 2010, Stricker won the 2010 Northern Trust Open after firing a 70, which was enough for a 16-under-par 268 winning total as he deposed fellow American Phil Mickelson as the world number two.
Professional wins (16)
PGA Tour wins (8)
|
| 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 | Scott Hoch, Mark O'Meara, Brad Faxon,  Grant Waite |
| 2 | Jul 7, 1996 | Motorola Western Open | -18 (65-69-67-69=270) | 8 strokes | Billy Andrade, Jay Don Blake |
| 3 | Jan 7, 2001 | Accenture Match Play Championship | 2 & 1 |  Pierre Fulke | |
| 4 | Aug 26, 2007 | The Barclays | -16 (67-67-65-69=268) | 2 strokes |  K.J. Choi |
| 5 | May 31, 2009 | Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial | -17 (63-63-69-68=263) | Playoff |  Tim Clark, Steve Marino |
| 6 | Jul 12, 2009 | John Deere Classic | -20 (71-61-67-64=264) | 3 strokes | Zach Johnson, Brett Quigley, Brandt Snedeker |
| 7 | Sep 7, 2009 | Deutsche Bank Championship | -17 (63-72-65-67=267) | 1 stroke | Jason Dufner, Scott Verplank |
| 8 | Feb 7, 2010 | Northern Trust Open | -16 (67-65-66-70=268) | 2 strokes |  Luke Donald |
PGA Tour playoff record (1-1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | Mercedes-Benz Championship | Daniel Chopra | Lost to birdie on fourth hole |
| 2 | 2009 | Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial | Tim Clark, Steve Marino | Won with birdie on second hole |
Other wins (8)
- 1987 Wisconsin State Open (as an amateur)
- 1990 Victoria Open (Canada), Wisconsin State Open
- 1991 Wisconsin State Open
- 1993 Canadian PGA Championship
- 1998 Wisconsin State Open
- 2000 Wisconsin State Open
- 2009 The Shark Shootout (with Jerry Kelly)
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | 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 |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Results in World Golf Championship events
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accenture Match Play Championship | R64 | R32 | 1 | R64 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | R64 | R16 | R32 |
| CA Championship | DNP | DNP | NT1 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T35 | T6 | T13 |
| Bridgestone Invitational | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T41 | T43 | T6 |
| HSBC Champions | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 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.
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
| Year | 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* | 1 | 1,686,000 | 1 |
| Career* | 8 | 25,162,520 | 14 |
* As of February 7, 2010
United States national team appearances
Professional
- Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners)
- Presidents Cup: 1996 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners)
- Ryder Cup: 2008 (winners)