Steve Stricker is making his third Presidents Cup appearance.
Oct. 1, 2009
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Wisconsin native Steve Stricker will certainly be an interesting player to watch at Harding Park. This is his third appearance as a member of a United States Presidents Cup team (5-5-0), and he also played on the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup squad (0-2-1). Perhaps as important, however, is the fact that he has already won three times this season, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and the John Deere Classic. The wins brought his career total to six on TOUR. Stricker was an All-American at the University of Illinois in 1988-89, and his first full year on TOUR was 1994 after spending four seasons on the Nationwide Tour. His breakthrough year came in 1996 when he won twice. He won again in 2001 and 2007. In a rarity, in 2007 he not only became the only back-to-back winner of the PGA TOUR's Comeback Player of the Year, but he also became its only two-time winner.
| The Stricker file |
| FULL NAME: Steven Charles Stricker |
| HEIGHT: 6-0 |
| WEIGHT: 190 |
| BIRTHDATE: Feb. 23, 1967 |
| BIRTHPLACE: Edgerton, Wis. |
| RESIDENCE: Madison, Wis. |
| FAMILY: Wife, Nicki; Bobbi Maria (8/31/98), Isabella Nicole (5/10/06) |
| EDUCATION: University of Illinois |
| SPECIAL INTERESTS: Hunting |
| TURNED PROFESSIONAL: 1990 |
| Q SCHOOL: 1993 Nationwide Tour Alumnus |
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| Personal info |
| Strickers wife, Nicki, who had been his caddie throughout his professional career, gave up the bag in 1998 to deliver their daughter Bobbi Maria. She returned to caddie briefly in 1999 at Milwaukee. His father-in-law, Dennis Tiziani, is the retired golf coach at University of Wisconsin, and his brother-in-law, Mario Tiziani, played on TOUR in 2005. After failing to earn his TOUR card in 2005 by two strokes at the PGA TOUR Qualifying School, Stricker rediscovered his game by hitting balls out of a trailer in the December snow on the practice range at Cherokee Country Club in Madison, Wis. He was inducted into the Wisconsin State Golf Association Hall of Fame in December 2007. |
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| Playing record |
| PGA TOUR VICTORIES: (7) 1996 Kemper Open, Motorola Western Open. 2001 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. 2007 The Barclays. 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, John Deere Classic, Deutsche Bank Championship. |
| 2009 PGA TOUR HIGHLIGHTS: Stricker chipped in for birdie on the par-4 17th hole in regulation play and then made a 3-foot birdie putt on 17th -- the second playoff hole -- to win the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He birdied the hole four of the five times he played it during the week. He beat third-round leader Tim Clark and Steve Marino (all at 17 under) in the playoff for his fifth career PGA TOUR title, moving him to second place in the FedExCup standings. After breaking his career-low round with a 9-under 61 in the second round of the John Deere Classic, he holed a 98-yard pitch shot for an eagle-two in the final round to claim a three-stroke win over Zach Johnson, Brett Quigley and Brandt Snedeker. With the win, he moved into second place in the FedExCup standings behind Tiger Woods. He briefly took over No. 1 with a strong run through the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup that included a tie for second at The Barclays and a win at the Deutsche Bank Championship, where he birdied the final two holes. When Woods won the BMW Championship, Stricker came to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola ranked second. |
| NATIONAL TEAMS: The Presidents Cup (3), 1996, 2007, 2009; Ryder Cup, 2008; Dunhill Cup, 1996 |
| PRESIDENTS CUP RECORD: 5-5-0 |
| RYDER CUP RECORD: 0-2-1 |
| COMBINED RECORD: 5-7-1 |
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| All-time playing partners |
| Ben Curtis (2 Four-ball RC) |
| Tom Lehman (1 Four-ball, 2 Foursomes) |
| Hunter Mahan (2 Foursomes, 1 Four-ball) |
| Corey Pavin (1 Four-ball) |
| Scott Verplank (1 Four-ball) |
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