Although Steve Stricker has never won a major, he still managed to rake in career earnings that topped well over $40 million as of 2018. The one-time world No. 2 golfer, who has spent more than 250 career weeks in the top 10, is also a two-time PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year, leading the USA at multiple Ryder Cup and -Representatives has represented Presidents Cup tournaments.
Biography and golf career
Stricker was born on Steven Charles Stricker23. February 1967 in Edgerton, Wisconsin. He attended Edgerton High School during the period that he began playing golf at Lake Ripley Country Club and Edgerton Towne Country Club. After completing his high school education, Stricker enrolled at the University of Illinois where he was part of the Illini Golf team. He was honored as an All-American in 1988 and 1989 before graduating a year later and turning pro.
Steve Stricker began his golf career on The Canadian Professional Golf Tour where he had two tournament wins. In 1994 he joined the PGA Tour but it was two years before he could claim victory at the Kemper Open in May 1996 and the Motorola Western Open in July of that year. He added seven other top ten finishes at other tournaments that year and finished fourth on the 1996 PGA Tour money list.
In 1998, Stricker was close to his first winMajor but managed only a second place finish to veteran Vijay Singh. His next best performance was at the 1999 US Open where he placed fifth. Stricker celebrated another win at the 2001 WGC Match Play Championship, taking home $1 million in prize money. That win proved to be Stricker’s last in a long time as he suffered a very poor run that cost him his 2004 Tour card.
By 2006, however, Steve Stricker was able to regain his place on the tour when he managed seven top ten finishes. The following year he won The Barclays tournament and went on to rank No. 4 in the world. Stricker started 2008 with second place in the Mercedes Benz championship. However, his next win came a year later in 2009 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. That win seemed to have spurred him on as he clinched wins a few months later at the John Deere Classic and the Deutsche Bank Championship that same year. He then achieved a place as the best player of his career on the official golf world rankings.
Steve Stricker’s Family – Wife
Steve Stricker is married to his college sweetheart, Nicki Stricker, the daughter of retired professional golfer Dennis Tiziani. Tiziani won the Wisconsin PGA Championship four times before becoming a coach. He took on the role of head coach for the men’s golf team at the University of Wisconsin, teaching the basics of the game to his son, professional golfer Mario Tiziani, and future son-in-law Stricker.
A few years after Stricker turned pro, he married his coach’s daughter in 1993. She also did so for the opportunity to travel with him to all of his tournaments. She held the role for five years until she became pregnant with her first child. They have since grown into a family of four as Nicki occasionally takes on the role of caddie for her husband.
Height and other facts
Steve Stricker is 1.83 m tall and weighs 86 kg.
He was voted the PGA Tour’s comeback player in 2006 after losing his card two years earlier. In 2007 he claimed the title again after breaking into the top 5 of the official world golf rankings.
Stricker had three straight victories at the John Deere Classic, becoming the tenth golfer since World War II.