Steve Stricker

Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)

Weight: 190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)

Birthdate: February 23, 1967

College: University of Illinois

Year turned pro: 1990

Birthplace: Edgerton, Wisconsin, USA

Country: USA

Sponsor: Titleist, Footjoy, American Family Insurance, Steve Stricker Foundation, AVIS

Born in Edgerton, Wisconsin in 1967, Stricker played golf from a young age after taking to the greens at both Lake Ripley Country Club and Edgerton Towne Country Club. After high school Stricker attended the University of Illinois, where he played on the golf team and achieved All-American status in 1988 and 1989. 

After graduating from college, Stricker turned professional in 1990. At the start of his professional career he played on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour, where he achieved two wins. It was four years before he began playing on the PGA Tour, in 1994. Two years later Stricker achieved his first two victories on the Tour, at the Kemper Open and the Motorola Western Open. That season he finished in fourth place on the PGA Tour money list.

During the 1998 season, Stricker impressed at the PGA Championship, where he was in contention for victory before finishing as runner-up. During the 2001 season Stricker achieved his most valuable win on the PGA tour, at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. This win secured him prize money of $1,000,000.

The good performances were set not to last, as Stricker saw his form drop resulting in him losing his card for the PGA Tour in 2004. He bounced back in 2006 when he achieved seven finishes in the top 10 on the Tour after competing thanks to several sponsor exemptions. This return to form led to Stricker being named PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year. The following season, Stricker continued to play well and achieved victory at The Barclays tournament. As a result of his good performances Stricker was chosen to play on the Presidents Cup team that year.

During the 2008 season, Stricker rose to number three in golf’s World Rankings, the highest ranking position he had achieved to that date. The following season, Stricker achieved his fifth victory on the PGA Tour, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Also that season, Stricker played to victory at the John Deere Classic, and at the Deutsche Bank Championship. After achieving these victories, Stricker rose to 2nd in the World Rankings, his best ever ranking position.

Although Stricker was deposed from his number two positon, he regained it after victory at the Northern Trust Open in 2010. This win was followed by another, at the John Deere Classic at TPC.  Stricker’s tournament success continued into 2011 when he achieved victory at the Memorial Tournament. This victory meant that Stricker was ranked 4th in golf’s World Rankings. At the time this meant that he was ranked higher than any other American golfer. This victory was followed by another, at the John Deere Classic, where he beat Kyle Stanley into second place. This win was Stricker’s third in a row at this tournament.

Although he has achieved many wins on the PGA Tour, Stricker has not achieved victory at a major, although he put in a good performance at the start of the 2011 PGA Championships before fading to eventually finish in twelfth place overall. Although he was finding a win at a major to be elusive, Stricker continued to be successful in PGA Tour events with a win at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, Hawaii, in 2012. Incredibly, Stricker had made the cut in 49 Tour events straight, before he finally missed the cut at the Players Championship, in 2012. As he entered the 2013 PGA Tour season, Stricker did so having promised that he would be making a significant reduction to the number of events he played in.

Away from the course, Stricker is a family man. He is married to Nicki and the couple has two children. Nicki’s father and brother have both played on the PGA Tour, and she has acted as her husband’s caddy on several occasions.
As of the end of 2014, Stricker had achieved twelve wins on the PGA Tour, amassing total prize money of $40,674,841.