Title defense at Colonial brings Stricker off the sidelines

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Defending champion Steve Stricker wasn't sure if playing this week was a good idea due to his right shoulder.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Steve Stricker was a bit conflicted.

If he weren't the defending champion, Stricker might not have played in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial this week. He might have given the inflammation in his right shoulder another seven days or so to heal.

The pain that had kept him on the sidelines since the Masters had effectively subsided, though. So with a title defense at hand and the U.S. Open just three weeks on the horizon, Stricker decided it was time to get back to work.

"Doing what I did here last year, and being the defending champion, I felt somewhat of an obligation to be back here," he explained. "I wanted to start playing again, and I wanted to come here.

"But if I hadn't won here, it might have been another week (before I came back)."

Stricker had a few anxious moments last week, too. The inflammation in the joint where the clavicle meets the sternum flared up again, and he felt "rotten" on Thursday and Friday. Turns out, the medication did the trick.

"It's a lot better," Stricker said. "I don't feel any pain. There is still some tightness or stiffness to it, a twinge here and there. But it was going to be a hard decision to stay home this week. ...

"I don't know if it's totally healed yet, but I'm swinging without any pain."

Stricker, who played nine holes on Tuesday, isn't exactly sure how he hurt his shoulder. He just knows that the pain got progressively worse until he decided to withdraw prior to the start of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

"Probably just my body's way of showing that I needed a little bit of rest," the world No. 4 said with a wry smile.

Stricker, who won the Northern Trust Open earlier this year, went to an orthopedic doctor after he withdrew. X-rays didn't show any abnormality, although his right clavicle appears to be a little higher than his left.

So the doctors told him to rest and take anti-inflammatory medication. Stricker "practiced" by playing some golf but he didn't hit the range until Tuesday when he got to Colonial. As a result, he describes his game as rusty but there is a sense of urgency in his assessment.

"My putting is rusty. My chipping is rusty. Everything is a little bit rusty,'" Stricker said. "At some point you got to make that decision to get back at it and get going again.

"We got the U.S. Open right around the corner. I want to make sure that my game is ready and sharp at that time. So at some point I got to come back and start trying to get things in order."

Stricker's game may be a bit suspect, but he is mentally refreshed after the six-week layoff -- "so that accounts for a few shots here and there," he noted. Not to mention, he's hoping the good vibes from last year will be a boost.

After all, he jump-started what turned out to be a career year here in 2010 when he beat Tim Clark and Steve Marino with a birdie on the second playoff hole. Stricker went on to win two more times last season, posted two runner-up finishes and had 11 top-10s.

"No question you can draw on all of those memories from years passed," Stricker said. "Especially when you won the prior year, you know you have some good feelings going around here. I've got a lot of work to do. My game needs to come a long ways.

"But you never know, you get underneath the gun, and you can turn it up a notch sometimes, too. I will just put in some work the next couple of days. I won't try to overdo it and try to come back and do it sensibly and cautiously, I think, and just try to get my game going that way."