Tag: Steve Stricker

Phoenix Open: Steve Stricker shoots 65, says, ‘I feel like I still have a little bit of game left’

Steve Stricker, 53, shot 65 at TPC Scottsdale and beat several of the players he may end up picking for the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The Waste Management Phoenix Open includes five of the top 10 players in the world, but in the first round they were all beaten by the 460th -ranked player, a PGA Tour Champions regular who thought his days of whipping up on these young whippersnappers were over.

That old timer would be none other than U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, who shot six-under 65, the lowest score of the afternoon wave at TPC Scottsdale, and proved he’s not just here to scout potential players for his 12-man side later this year.

“I made some putts,” he said. “Felt like the old Steve Stricker. I am old, but I don’t feel 53 or 4. I feel like I still have a little bit of game left in me.”

Stricker, who turns 54 later this month and won the last of his 12 PGA Tour titles in 2012, sits in fifth place after the opening round, two strokes behind Matthew NeSmith and Mark Hubbard.

Waste Management Phoenix Open: Photos | Leaderboard | Tee times, TV info

“I don’t know if I feel like I belong anymore, to be quite honest,” Stricker said.

Have you seen the leaderboard, he was asked by one reporter.

“Yeah, I know. These guys, they all hit it 300 plus, 320s, 330s, and I’m just trying to get it in the fairway and get it up to 280,” Stricker said.

Stricker thought he’d be put out to pasture this year and be a full-time Champions tour pro, but the Ryder Cup postponement due to the global pandemic changed his plans. He’s still playing against the young bucks—this is his third Tour event in a row—so that he can keep an eye on his potential players. That included a practice round with Patrick Cantlay at the American Express and conversations with Patrick Reed at the Farmers Insurance Open and Justin Thomas this week.

Stricker’s wife Nicki was on the bag and their kids followed along making it a family affair. It didn’t hurt that Stricker was also grouped with fellow 50-something and pal Jerry Kelly and European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington.

“Walking off the first tee I said, ‘Paddy, we got two Badgers against you today. He was like, ‘Well, I need to get used to that I guess.’ So, he knows what’s coming when he comes there in September,” Stricker said of Whistling Straits, site of the biennial matches.

As he walked off the 18th green, he took a long glance at the scoreboard and couldn’t help but notice that his name was above the likes of Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Webb Simpson, and Thomas, who all have Ryder Cup experience, and Euro stars Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy.

“I love to watch who is playing well and look for potential players on the Ryder Cup team, friends, how they’re playing. Just get the lay of it. I study it a lot it seems like nowadays just trying to get a feel for what’s going on and how guys are playing,” he said. “It was good to see my name up there on the top, and the challenge will be to come out tomorrow and try to keep that ball rolling.”

His trusty putter, an Odyssey White Hot putter he’s used for more than 20 years, decided to behave and he made seven birdies against just one bogey to shoot the lowest score by a 50+ year-old golfer in the Phoenix Open since Tom Lehman in 2011.

Hubbard, who was followed by his pregnant wife, straightened out his putter, too. On his way to a forgettable round of 76 and a missed cut at the American Express two weeks ago, Hubbard used an unconventional putting technique, extending his right arm and wrapping his pinky finger around the lower portion of his shaft for support on a 5-foot putt. Hubbard said the maneuver was coined “the snail” during his days at San Jose State. When asked what his teammates thought of his technique, he said, “They all know I’m an idiot, so they just expect it from me.”

Hubbard said it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that the snail would make an encore performance this week.

“We were joking on 16 that if I had hit it to a tap-in’s length that I would have had to have done it,” he said. “It drew a little more at the end, so I had five feet and it was kind of outside that range. But who knows, we might break it out this week.”

Hubbard finished with a flurry of birdies, five in his last six holes, to shoot his lowest round of his career after making a slight swing adjustment.

“I think earlier in the day I was kind of whipping it a little inside, so I kind of straightened my takeaway a little bit, and that kind of got things in motion, and I putted pretty good all day,” he said.

Matthew NeSmith plays his second shot at the second hole during the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic/USA Today Network)

NeSmith went out early and carded six birdies and an eagle when he holed a bunker shot at No. 13. He hit 16 greens in regulation and took just 27 putts. NeSmith is winless on Tour and doesn’t need to be reminded that a victory would earn him an invite to the Masters.

He grew up less than 20 minutes from famed Augusta National Golf Club, just across the border in South Carolina and his father was a part-time caddie there. He has fond memories of attending the tournament as a kid.

“I’d try to get my dad to let me skip school on Thursday and Friday to watch it when we were going,” he said.

Nate Lashley, who attended University of Arizona and makes his home in Scottsdale, is one stroke back along with Same Burns after shooting 64s. Spieth ranked second in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting en route to signing for 4-under 67. That was a stroke better than Koepka, the 2015 Phoenix Open champion, who posted 3-under 68, his lowest opening-round score since last year’s PGA Championship. Koepka, who is trying to end a streak of three straight missed cuts, made 149 feet of putts, his most in a single round since 2018.

Rahm, an Arizona State alum, tied Koepka with 68, while McIlroy overcame a slow start and Thomas took a costly triple-bogey 7 at No. 17 as both opened with 1-under 70. Simpson, the defending champion, struggled to 2-over 73 as did Fowler, the 2019 champion, who is in danger of missing the cut after shooting 74.

Asked what Stricker would say to Team USA vets such as Xander Schauffele, who shot 66, Fowler, Spieth, Koepka, Thomas and Simpson, who are all looking up at The Captain’s name on the leaderboard, he said, “Well, it’s only one round. But it shows that I’m still out here trying to compete with them, trying to play, trying to beat them.”

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U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker mapping out new plans en route to 2021 matches at Whistling Straits

Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker wants to open the lines of communication as he begins to think about who will be on the U.S. team.

NAPLES, Fla. – With Old Man Winter fast approaching and COVID-19 cases quickly rising in his area, Steve Stricker accelerated plans to head for warmer climes, so he and his family left his home state of Wisconsin in mid-November for their part-time residence in Naples in the Sunshine State.

The U.S. Ryder Cup captain, however, is far from finished with making changes to his itinerary as he heads into 2021.

Stricker, who thought he’d be playing a full schedule on the PGA Tour Champions circuit in the upcoming year, has to adjust his travel plans and accompanying Ryder Cup duties due to the 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in the Badger State being postponed to Sept. 24-26 in 2021.

If it’s played, that is. We’ll get to that in a moment.

“Well, I’m the captain for another year and that changes things up a bit,” Stricker told Golfweek earlier this month during the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club near his winter home. “The whole year will be much different than I thought it would be. But I’ll adapt.”

Stricker thought he’d either still be celebrating his team’s victory or lamenting his troops’ loss these days, but instead he’s working out his itinerary for the new year. Basically, he has to decide what he’ll do the next nine months before his 12 red, white and blue charges and their European counterparts arrive in Wisconsin.

Assistant Captain Steve Stricker of the United States team looks on during the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne. (Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images)

Hanging over all the plans, however, is the COVID-19 global pandemic. While vaccines and subsequent injections are rolling out, there is no guarantee the Ryder Cup will be played next September.

Remember, the 2020 biennial bout was postponed in part because the global pandemic forbid spectators and their boisterous vocal cords from attending the biennial tussle, one of the main earsplitting calling cards for the U.S.-Europe match. While limited numbers of fans have been allowed at a few PGA Tour events recently and are expected in the new year, a limited number of fans or the possibility of a spectator-less Ryder Cup is a different beast.

Thus, the question remains: Will the Ryder Cup be played if no fans are allowed or a limited number of fans are allowed?

“There has been no talk of contingency plans,” Stricker said. “I would imagine we’re at the point where we would play no matter what, I would think.

“We just can’t postpone it again.”

You would think. Especially seeing as three majors were played in 2020 without fans and all delivered memorable contests. And the 2023 Ryder Cup is set to be played in Italy, so it seems highly unlikely there would be a 2022 Ryder Cup.

But cancellation of the 2021 Ryder Cup is on the table, according to Kerry Haigh, chief championship officer for the PGA of America.

“We are talking about an event with an atmosphere like no other. So our hope and expectation is that we will be able to play it in a manner it deserves, with full crowds and full support,” Haigh told Golf Digest. “You would think things would be better for everybody by September, but if the situation exists that is not going to allow that, I guess it likely would not be played.”

Stricker, though, will plow forward with the week in September circled when he hopes the U.S. will regain possession of the Ryder Cup trophy. Europe resoundingly won in 2018, its seventh victory in the past nine contests.

“The first part of the year I’ll just be watching the players and watching my game,” he said. “Once we get closer to the Ryder Cup, my attention will shift entirely to the Ryder Cup and the guys that will be on the team by then and thinking about captain’s picks and talking to the assistants and getting ready to face Europe.”

Steve Stricker and European Captain Padraig Harrington sign Ryder Cup memorabilia during a Ryder Cup media event at Whistling Straits in 2019. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images,)

Stricker said he might begin the year with a Hawaii double – playing in the Sony Open in Hawaii and then the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on the Champions tour. Or he might begin at the American Express in La Quinta, California, the third PGA Tour event of 2021. From there he’s unsure, but he’d like to spend as much time as he can on the PGA Tour.

Whatever he’s doing or wherever he’s going, he’ll be busy. But a few mandatory details associated with his captaincy are not on his agenda – the behind-the-scenes obligations associated with the Ryder Cup such as team uniforms, housing, catering, travel, the setup of the team room and other related backstage necessities.

“That’s all been done and that takes a lot off my plate,” he said. “We have to get a couple gifts for people but that’s minimal. I’m going to concentrate on the team and my game.”

Unchanged are his plans to be the great communicator, a captain that is all ears and open to suggestions and advice from those associated with the team. Stricker has played in five editions of the Presidents Cup and three editions of the Ryder Cup and has learned from each of the captains of those teams – Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples, Paul Azinger, Corey Pavin and Davis Love III.

Stricker also has been a vice-captain in the Ryder Cups of 2014, 2016 and 2018, a vice-captain in the Presidents Cups of 2015 and 2019, and he captained the U.S. to a resounding victory in the 2017 Presidents Cup.

“I’ll play half a dozen on the Champions tour and play where I can on the PGA Tour,” Stricker said. “Being out there is important. I get to hang out with some of the guys. If a guy wants to talk to me, I’ll be there.

“I’m not a typical captain. I played for Jack and Arnie and you’re intimidated by them when you go there. I’m not in that capacity. I don’t intimidate anybody. I get the respect of the players, but I’m not an intimidating figure and my resume doesn’t intimidate anybody, because most of the players on the team will have won a major. So I want to be there for everybody.

“I want to make sure the communication lines are open on both sides. I don’t want to just show up for the Ryder Cup and say, ‘Hey, what have you been doing? Where have you been?’”

Stricker had four top-10s in five starts on the Champions tour in 2020 and made six of 12 cuts on the PGA Tour, with a tie for 17th in the Mayakoba Classic his best finish. He also teamed with Daniel Berger to finish ninth in the 12-team field in the QBE Shootout.

What he has seen up close and from afar this year has him pleased for the most part. That would include the play of youngsters like Berger, who won the Charles Schwab Challenge, the first tournament after the COVID-19 break. And reigning PGA champion Collin Morikawa, and Matthew Wolff, who tied for fourth in the PGA Championship and finish second in the U.S. Open.

Daniel Berger Charles Schwab Challenge - Final Round
Daniel Berger celebrates winning the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club. (Photo: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports)

Add Bryson DeChambeau and his gun show and Dustin Johnson and his green jacket and Justin Thomas and his iron play to the list of things that made Stricker smile.

On the other side of par, however, the play of Rickie Fowler, three-time major winner Jordan Spieth and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, all regulars on recent teams in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, has caught Stricker’s attention, too.

“The young guys, like Morikawa, Wolff, Berger, are on my radar,” Stricker said. “And there have been guys on my radar who haven’t played well. Jordan, Rickie, and quite honestly, Brooks. I know Brooks is still in the top 6 but he hasn’t been the Brooks we’re accustomed to seeing. But at Mayakoba, he told me he was healthy and I expect a full turnaround.

“We have this whole year for those guys to right the ship.”

On Stricker’s voyage to September, there are three mates onboard – vice captains Zach Johnson, 2018 Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk and 2012 and 2016 Ryder Cup captain Love III. Stricker also said he will likely name two more vice captains to the team.

Stricker said he’ll lean on them a lot, especially when it comes to filling out his team. The top 6 in the points standings automatically make the team. Currently, the top 6 are Johnson, DeChambeau, Thomas, Koepka, Morikawa and Xander Schauffele. The qualification period runs through next year’s BMW Championship, the second event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs which is the last week of August.

Stricker would then make six discretionary selections following the Tour Championship the first week of September.

“I want input from all people associated with the team,” Stricker said. “Azinger was one of the first, in my opinion, to open the communication lines early in the process. I was a captain’s pick for his team (in 2008) and he immediately asked me who I would like to see on the team. He told me the whole premise of what he was doing and that, I believe, makes everybody buy in. They feel like they are a part of the team, they feel like they have some ownership in the team.

“We’re all in this together, so why not ask everybody for their opinion. I’m going to be the guy that will ultimately get hammered or get people saying good job, but I’m not going to be alone in arriving at my decisions.”

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At CME Group Championship, Steve Stricker takes turn on the microphone with Golf Channel

Steve Stricker, 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, worked as an on-course analyst for Golf Channel on Saturday at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Steve Stricker wanted to watch the LPGA Tour’s best play in the CME Group Tour Championship. He got a bit of a bonus plan Saturday.

Stricker, the 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, found himself with a microphone, working as an on-course analyst with Golf Channel/NBC’s Jerry Foltz for the third round.

“He teed them up for me all the way around, and then I had to stick my foot in my mouth on a hole and try to overrun somebody that was calling a shot,” Stricker said after following around the last group, leader Sei Young Kim, Jin Young Ko, and Lexi Thompson at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.

Stricker said “rookie mistake” after he realized what was happening.

Foltz gave his protegé high marks.

“I’ve done it a lot with a lot of different people, and (LPGA Tour player) Morgan (Pressel) the other day as well,” Foltz said. “We’ve known each other for 27, 28 years.

“He was absolutely a natural at it. First, I would tee him up and asking questions, and finally I just started pointing at him and letting him go. He is a natural, just like Morgan was.”

Stricker said Foltz made him feel comfortable.

“He made it easy,” Stricker said. “It can be hard. You’ve got a lot of people talking in your ear, and kind of overwhelming at times, but he made it pretty easy.”

Stricker already has been impressed watching the LPGA Tour players.

“I love watching these girls play, these women play,” he said. “I really do. I’m a fan of golf.

“I think because they’re so technical and they’re so technically good, you can learn a lot of things.”

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Stricker had approached Wasserman Sports’ Taylor Ives about getting out to watch the round. Of course there were no fans except for some Tiburón members and perhaps some connected with title sponsor CME Group.

“I said ‘Is there an opportunity to go around?’ and I pursued it,” Stricker said. “I’ve always thought it would be interesting to be out there. I wanted to be out there and watch these girls.

“I didn’t realize I was going to be in the last group with Jerry when I asked that question. They kind of threw me right into it. Again, he made it so easy, and so simple, and really talk about what I would see as a player. From that standpoint, it just makes things easier.”

When asked if he was returning Sunday, Stricker joked that he’d been fired. But he did get a feel for TV that may turn into something down the road.

“If playing doesn’t work out anymore, I could see doing it,” he said.

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Veteran U.S. players want more captain’s picks for 2021 Solheim Cup

Earlier this year, U.S. Solheim Cup captain Pat Hurst said she had lobbied to increase the number of picks she receives from two to four.

NAPLES, Fla. – With Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker joining Golf Channel’s broadcast at the CME Group Tour Championship and Solheim Cup captain Pat Hurst zooming around Tiburon Golf Club in a cart, it seemed fitting to start thinking about how next year’s teams might shape up.

The 2021 golf season will be a Cup extravaganza. In the wake of fewer playing opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, every team has made changes to how players qualify – with the exception of the U.S. Solheim Cup team.

Stricker’s picks were raised from four to six for 2021. The same goes for European Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew. On Wednesday, the European Ryder Cup team announced changes to its points system to better reward the hottest players leading into Whistling Straits.

Sticker said he wanted the six picks due to the uncertainty of how the pandemic would impact the PGA Tour’s schedule.

“Whistling straits is a big course,” said Stricker. “We want to make sure we’ve got guys on there that are hitting it a long ways and playing well. If that means going outside the top 12, then we’ll probably do it.”

Steve Stricker, Ryder Cup captain
Golf Channel’s Steve Stricker, left, and Jerry Foltz provided live analysis from the field during the third round at the CME Group Tour Championship.

As for the PGA of America’s role in the decision, “If we’re OK with it, they seemed to be OK with it too.”

Earlier this year, Hurst said she had lobbied to increase the number of picks she receives from two to four. The Solheim committee that makes such decisions includes LPGA commissioner Mike Whan, the chair of the board, the player president and the three previous U.S. Solheim Cup captains.

The 2021 Solheim Cup will be contested Sept. 4-6 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, three weeks ahead of the Ryder Cup and about six hours away from Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

Currently eight players will qualify off of Solheim Cup points, two will get in off Rolex Rankings and two are captain’s picks.

“We should get at least four,” said Solheim veteran Cristie Kerr. “I would think you would have to. Even if it’s only ever this one time in history.”

Assistant captain Angela Stanford would also like to see Hurst get four picks, noting that while points increase in 2021 (1.5 times more points for regular events and two times more for majors), there are no guarantees how next year might go.

“I feel like you can err on the safe side,” said Stanford, “and give us more picks just in case it doesn’t go as planned.”

Stanford, by the way, won in Dallas earlier this month and currently ranks fifth on the points list.

Stacy Lewis’ main concern is that the Rolex Rankings were altered this year to protect players who chose not to compete. In other words, points and divisors only changed and aged on weeks when an athlete competes. It’s how Jin Young Ko never dropped out of the No. 1 position even though she didn’t compete on tour until November.

“I think you take those two Rolex (spots) and make them picks,” said Lewis. “The rankings aren’t running normally still. To me, that’s the bigger issue.”

It would seem that the committee would need to make a decision before the tour restarts Jan. 21-24 at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

The current top 8 on the points list include Danielle Kang, Nelly Korda, Ally Ewing, Brittany Altomare, Angela Stanford, Marina Alex, Austin Ernst and Amy Olson.

The next eight: Jessica Korda, Megan Khang, Stacy Lewis, Jennifer Song, Lexi Thompson, Jennifer Kupcho, Cheyenne Knight and Mina Harigae.

– Greg Hardwig of the Naples Daily News contributed to this article.

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Family and football players: PGA Tour pros have unique caddies at the QBE Shootout

From family members to professional football players, the PGA Tour pros at the QBE Shootout have some unique caddies this week.

A 13-year-old son. A father. A wife. An unofficial pro-am celebrity. And a Super Bowl participant.

The QBE Shootout has quite a collection of caddies as it celebrates its 20th year at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort this week. And with it being a laidback team event, that opens the door for the pros to given someone else a chance to caddie — and also to give their regular caddies a break.

Part-time Naples resident Steve Stricker, the 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, does have a “backup” caddie, but someone he’s more than familiar with, and who is also more than familiar with the role. Stricker’s wife, Nicki, was a longtime caddie for her husband on the PGA Tour, and she picked up the bag again for last year’s Mayakoba Classic in Mexico and the Shootout this week.

“A lot of guys take advantage of this tournament and these offseason kind of events to give their regular guys a break, and have some family on the bag,” Stricker said. “There’s a couple of guys in our group that are friends of players. This is a good opportunity.”

Nicki would normally be watching anyway, but it’s different when she’s caddying for her husband.

“Although now there’s not a really bad seat (with no fans allowed due to the coronavirus pandemic), but it’s kind of nice to be inside and up close and feel a little bit more apart of what’s going on,” Nicki said. “I like it.

“He’ll ask usually me at first if I want to. I split the time with my brother, so between the two of us it just depends on where it is, what’s going on with the kids. I enjoy it though.”

Matt Kuchar has his 13-year-old son, Cameron, on the bag. Billy Horschel has his father. Tony Finau gave a couple of friends a chance to carry his clubs — former NFL defensive lineman and fullback Will Tukuafu in the first round, and friend Otto Carter on Saturday.

Horschel planned on having his friend Matt Rollins, who caddied for him at the Shootout last year, back on the bag. But Rollins came in contact last week with somebody who tested positive for COVID-19. Horschel said he thought Rollins had tested negative, but with him also living in Arizona, it just didn’t make sense to use him.

Horschel didn’t have to go far to find a replacement. He lives next to his 69-year-old dad, Bill, in Ponte Vedra.

“I called ‘Pops’ in off the bench,” said Horschel, who said his father had caddied for him once early in his career.

Greg Norman greets Billy Horschel Sr. on the first hole during the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. (Photo: Chris Tilley/Special to the Naples Daily News)

Kuchar’s 13-year-old son, Cameron, had been bugging his dad for a shot at caddying, and Kuchar thought this was the perfect type of event.

“We had a blast,” Matt Kuchar said. “To be able to do it here in this environment with a bunch of good guys, from Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Harris (English), they’ve all got great caddies out there. It was nice to have guys to take my boy under their wing.”

There weren’t any hiccups during Friday’s first round.

“He’s been great as far as being prepared, being ready, and being early,” Kuchar said. “Those are things that I get nervous about, Where are you? Where are you? It never happened.”

Kuchar said Eric Larson, English’s caddie, had been good with his son, and there also was an added bonus. Smith’s caddie, Matthew ” Bussy” Tritton, was a caddie for Kuchar early in his career.

“Bussy remembers Cameron when he was just a little baby,” Kuchar said. “He has some good stories to reminisce on.”

Thursday, James Edmondson, who caddies for pro Ryan Palmer, gave his boss something to reminisce about. He holed out from 43 yards on the unofficial 19th hole floating green that each pro-am team stopped to take a chance at. Edmondson got $100 each from each player in the group, and $1,000 went to charity.

“That was pretty fun,” Palmer said. “He just dropped two balls and flies it in the hole. He is a good golfer, so it was a fun moment. Our group had a blast with it.”

Palmer also got something — Edmondson’s caddie bib.

“We made a joke with our team, and I put the bib on, and the guys were like, ‘We’ll take him instead, give him a little break,'” Palmer said.

Finau’s normal caddie, Gregory Romine, got married Friday, so he had been thinking about who to replace him, and he went with longtime friends.

Tony Finau and caddie, former NFL player Will Tukuafu, on the sixth hole during the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. (Photo: Chris Tilley/Special to the Naples Daily News)

Tukuafu played college football at Oregon, and then played with the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. He played in the Super Bowl when the 49ers lost to the Ravens, and was on injured reserve with a concussion just before the Seahawks made their playoff run to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the New England Patriots.

“It’s great having a couple of buddies out here with me,” Finau said. “It’s such a great atmosphere, very chill, a great format. It’s team golf, something we don’t really get to do out here.

“I just thought about my two closest friends. They both love golf, big fans of the game, big fans of guys I play with. This is really cool for me to have an opportunity like this.”

 

QBE Shootout is a family affair for Steve Stricker, his daughter

Steve Stricker is teamed up with Daniel Berger at the QBE Shootout, where his daughter Bobbi is assisting the team that manages the event.

NAPLES, Fla. — Professional golf has been a family occasion for much of Steve Stricker’s career.

His wife, Nicki, was frequently his caddie on the PGA Tour, and was an accomplished player herself, finishing fourth in the Big Ten at Wisconsin as a senior.

His father-in-law, Dennis Tiziani, and his brother-in-law, Mario Tiziani, both played on the PGA Tour, and Mario is Steve’s agent. Dennis Tiziani also coached men’s and women’s golf at Wisconsin, and is Steve’s swing coach.

And his daughter, Bobbi, switched from tennis to golf after her senior year in high school, and walked on at Wisconsin.

This week and next, Bobbi is taking on a different role—but still in golf, of course.

She is assisting the Wasserman Sports team that manages the QBE Shootout, Greg Norman’s PGA Tour event, and the CME Group Tour Championship, an LPGA Tour one, at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.

“We kind of threw it out there to (Wasserman Sports’) Taylor (Ives) when I went down to Mexico last week,” said Steve Stricker, a part-time Naples resident who played in the Mayakoba Golf Classic. “I just said if you need anymore help, she was looking to kind of learn the business. She does a little bit of stuff with our tournament up in Madison for our Champions (Tour) event.

“It’s kind of the stuff she wants to be around, and involved with — tournament golf, players, management, something like that, I think.”

Bobbi, 22, is working while juggling her classes, which she’s attending virtually, as a senior at Wisconsin. Wednesday was just Day 2 of the journalism major’s journey.

“It’s been very fun so far,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of little jobs, but I’ve learned a lot of how the behind the scenes works. It’s always been an interest of mine, just how to put on an event. I’ve gotten to meet a ton of people, which will only help, and they’re all so cool.”

One of those will be her father’s playing partner this week, Daniel Berger.

This isn’t Berger’s first Shootout, and it won’t be Stricker’s first time getting familiar with him. But it will be a bit different because Stricker is the 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, and Berger is one of those in contention for the team. Still, Stricker and Berger are familiar with one another in those types of roles; Stricker was the Presidents Cup captain in 2017 when Berger played on the team.

“He’s a great kid and he’s a hell of a player, and he’s been playing great golf as of late,” Stricker said. “I’m excited to partner with him, and I’ll ride him hard. He’s got a lot of talent and he hits it a long ways.”

Berger won’t get caught up in trying to impress Stricker this week.

“I’ve always looked up to him as a player,” Berger said. “Just a great time to spend with the Ryder Cup captain and look forward to playing good golf this week. The way I play this week has zero bearing on any Ryder Cup, but it is cool just to play with the Ryder Cup captain.”

Being at and in PGA Tour events is something important to Stricker, so he can build relationships, see what players are up to, and that sort of thing as he prepares for next year, after this year’s Ryder Cup was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m excited to be part of his team and just to hang around him,” Stricker said. “That’s a lot of the reason why I continue to play out here.”

Stricker, who is unsure at this point if he’ll play in next April’s Chubb Classic on the PGA Tour Champions at Tiburón, has been down in Naples with his wife and daughter since mid-November, and the two of them had been here since the end of October.

“We got out of Wisconsin when the getting was good,” he said. “The pandemic up there hasn’t been too good, so we decided to come down here to spend some more time outside.”

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Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, Solheim Cup captain Pat Hurst advise next generation of golfers

Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker and Solheim Cup captain Pat Hurst are no strangers to resiliency.

The 2020 WGCA/GCAA Virtual Member Convention has been a fitting representation of golf this year. While each looks a little different, both have been resilient.

On Wednesday, during a recorded session hosted by Golf Channel’s Steve Burkowski, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker and Solheim Cup captain Pat Hurst shared past experiences with facing adversity and gave a bit of advice for how coaches and players can continue to grow amid a pandemic.

“You have this dream of taking it to the next level but you never know what that means,” said Stricker. “Fortunately for me, I was able to see some success at each level. At each level I got a jolt of confidence knowing I could potentially play at that level.”

“You go through your ups and downs and you have to persevere, that’s what I did,” explained Stricker, winner of 12 PGA Tour titles. “It wasn’t always great, it took me my fourth time through qualifying school to get my Tour card, there’s always those challenges.”

The first-ever joint virtual convention began Dec. 1 and runs through Tuesday, Dec. 15. Instead of loading the schedule with hours of daily programming, events were spread out, allowing members to pick and choose various online meetings and sessions to attend, much like an a la carte menu.

Unlike Stricker, Hurst wasn’t as fortunate in the confidence department early in her professional career, despite a blistering amateur and collegiate career. The Bay Area native won the 1986 U.S. Girls’ Junior and 1990 U.S. Women’s Amateur. The year prior, Hurst was a medalist at the 1989 U.S. Women’s Amateur and won the team and individual NCAA title with San José State.

All that winning came with a price. After she left school, Hurst quit golf for a year. She had gotten to the point where she hated the game she used to love.

“I remember being out at Spyglass caddying for my now husband,” explained Hurst. “I’m at one of the most beautiful places in the world and I’m carrying his bag caddying and I’m like, ‘I hate golf. What am I doing?’”

Hurst ended up taking some time away from the game before getting the itch to return to competition. She worked her way to LPGA Rookie of the Year honors in 1995, a major championship at the 1998 ANA Inspiration and six LPGA victories. Not to mention decades of Solheim Cup experience, where she boats a 10-7-3 record (3-1-1 in singles).

As student-athletes face COVID-19 uncertainties, both captains stressed the importance of not only time, but body management, while also pointing out how the new generation of players is more prepared than ever.

“These kids start out so young, taking care of their bodies, eating right, practicing correctly, the drills that these kids do is mindblowing to me,” said Stricker. “I never did any drills, still don’t, and these kids come out on Tour with all their putting devices and drills and sticks and everything lined up just right and they’re working at it and they’re working at it correctly. They just dial it in.”

“Back in the day I don’t remember having workouts, which is kind of sad but its true,” added Hurst, who still remembers hitting balls on the football field through the uprights and picking her “range” on the soccer field. “We didn’t have study hall like they do. It’s more demanding on their time and I think it teaches them a lot of time management.”

“It’s definitely changed but for the better.”

 

PGA Tour Champions: First event with fans gets a crowd for Jack Nicklaus and others

Jack Nicklaus and Andy North took on Hale Irwin and Tony Jacklin in an exhibition as part of the Sanford Invitational with fans on hand.

If you attended the second day of the Sanford International at Minnehaha Country Club (and the improved weather resulted in a far larger crowd Saturday than for Friday’s opener in Sioux Falls, South Dakota), you might have found yourself with a difficult decision by the end of the afternoon.

Who to follow around the course at the PGA Tour Champions event, the first golf event with fans since the pandemic began?

You had the threesome of Steve Stricker, John Daly and Robin Byrd, with Daly clearly asserting himself as the people’s choice after this week’s bladder cancer diagnosis, which he’s promptly responded to with a stellar first two days, checking in at 6-under, three strokes off the lead heading into Sunday.

Stricker, the 2018 champion, shot a 64 Saturday to vault himself into a tie for the lead at 9-under.

Or you could’ve followed the threesome of Miguel Angel Jimenez, David Toms and Dicky Pride, who are all playing spectacular golf this weekend. Pride shot a 5-under 65 on Friday to take the early lead, while Jimenez produced a second straight brilliant round that puts him atop the leaderboard with Stricker at 9-under. Toms is not far behind at 7-under.

Then there was Darren Clarke, who carded a tournament-record 62 on Saturday to pull within one stroke of Stricker, tied with Kevin Sutherland and Fred Couples, who shot a 64 on Saturday, including the shot of the day when he eagled No. 9 with a “slam dunk” chip directly into the hole.

Jack Nicklaus dons a hat with a golden bear on it, emblematic of his nickname, in the EMC Legends Series at the Sanford International on Saturday, September 12, At the Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls.
Jack Nicklaus dons a hat with a golden bear on it, emblematic of his nickname, in the EMC Legends Series at the Sanford International on Saturday, September 12, At the Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

And still, with all that going on, it was hard for the spectators not to turn their attention to the back nine at around 4 p.m., when the Legends Series teed off for their nine-hole charity exhibition.

Jack Nicklaus and Andy North took on Hale Irwin and Tony Jacklin. Nicklaus, considered by many to be the greatest golfer of all time, teaming with the two-time U.S. Open winner, and Irwin, the winningest player in PGA Tour Champions history teaming with Jacklin, a British legend and 1970 U.S. Open champion.

Steve Stricker tees off during the Sanford International on Saturday, September 12, At the Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls.
Steve Stricker tees off during the Sanford International on Saturday, September 12, At the Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls.

Nicklaus is 80, Jacklin 76 and Irwin 75, while North was the young pup of the group at 70, and the foursome put on a memorable show that left onlookers in awe throughout their 2½ hour round.

Jacklin and Irwin ended up winning the match play event, their prize being $20,000 to Sanford Children’s Hospital. It dropped North and Nicklaus to 0-3 in the event, a number they were having fun with in a group media session before the round and continued to joke about throughout their trip through Minnehaha’s back nine.

But while fun, camaraderie and charity were clearly the top priorities for the foursome, the exhibition of golf they put on, even in their 70s and beyond, was impressive in its own right.

Jack Nicklaus plays in the EMC Legends Series at the Sanford International on Saturday, September 12, At the Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls.
Jack Nicklaus plays in the EMC Legends Series at the Sanford International on Saturday, September 12, At the Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls.

Nicklaus, who won a battle with COVID-19 earlier this year, doesn’t move very quickly and his swing is an abbreviated version of itself, and that limited his distance off the tee. But the Golden Bear still put virtually every drive right down the middle, and saw a handful of difficult putts just miss giving the throng of fans that surrounded the greens the chance to erupt in celebration (as they so clearly wanted to).

Irwin, who was an all-Big 8 defensive back for the Colorado Buffaloes and later a three-time U.S. Open winner, looks about a dozen years younger than his 75 years and spent his round ribbing the other golfers, chatting with fans and media and making friends with Ben Wieman, the 10-year-old from Madison who was named the Sandford Children’s Hospital Ambassador.

Miguel Jimenez talks with his caddy before teeing off during the Sanford International on Saturday, September 12, At the Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls.
Miguel Jimenez talks with his caddy before teeing off during the Sanford International on Saturday, September 12, At the Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls.

Wieman had been diagnosed with leukemia in 2017 and rang the ball at the Children’s Hospital on April 10 to mark the end of his cancer treatment. North had Wieman take his final putt on No. 18, and the youngster’s presence was extra special when the Legends finished their round and the gift to the Children’s Hospital was made official.

“I think it’s one of the highlights of the week to get three of the greatest players to ever play this game to come in here and spend nine holes having some fun and some laughs and get a chance to compete at whatever level we can compete now,” said North, who nearly chipped one in from 20 yards outside the green on No. 12. “We really do appreciate it.”

How I spent my COVID lockdown: Steve Stricker becomes Fortnite fanatic, Retief Goosen restores a Hummer

Steve Stricker refused to demonstrate his Fortnite dance moves, but the mental picture of the 53-year-old golfer celebrating a good shot with gyrations from the video game was still a visual delight. “I got a couple dances when I do something well, …

Steve Stricker refused to demonstrate his Fortnite dance moves, but the mental picture of the 53-year-old golfer celebrating a good shot with gyrations from the video game was still a visual delight.

“I got a couple dances when I do something well, I will throw it at the guys,” Stricker said, giving no hint of his preferred choices.

Asked if he would show them off for the PGA Tour Champions camera, Stricker said, “No, no chance.”

What members of the Champions Tour did during the coronavirus lockdown might seem mundane, even though the 50-and-over players are competing in just the second event since the restart in the $3 million Bridgestone Senior Players, which opens Thursday at Firestone Country Club.

But that was not the case where Stricker and Retief Goosen are concerned.

No one would have imagined Stricker becoming addicted to Fortnite or Goosen working to restore a 2006 Hummer H2 SUT, infamous in Akron because LeBron James drove an H2 while in high school.

“I got into Fortnite. Stupid game,” Stricker revealed Wednesday. “I don’t know where that came from, but it’s kind of consumed some of my time, even lately. I bring it with me out on the road and pass the time. But I’m trying to wean myself off that game.”

At first, Stricker’s wife Nicki and their daughters Bobbi, 21, and Isabella, 14, played with him at their home in Madison, Wisconsin.

“During the quarantine, when it first happened, I was playing quite a bit. I had nothing else to do, right? We play golf and then I play Fortnite,” he said. “The kids started playing with me, too. Nicki tried to, but she got frustrated with it and ended that pretty quickly.

“But yeah, I still get into that. The kids have stopped playing. They know better.”

Returning champion Relief Goosen, left, elbow bumps Sam Jakabcic of Brunswick while posing for a photo before the Bridgestone Senior Players Tournament pro-am on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, Akron, Ohio, at Firestone Country Club. [Phil Masturzo/ Beacon Journal]
Goosen, meanwhile, was in Orlando, Florida. He said he didn’t touch a club for three months, occupied instead by another of his passions.

“I am a bit of a mechanic,” Goosen said. “So I bought myself an old car and spent three months renovating it. I was under the bonnet taking things apart and cleaning and putting them back together. That’s just the kind of thing I like.

“It needed a bit of work. And it just worked out fine now. It’s a great car to drive.”

Goosen said it was only the second or third car he’s tinkered with.

“I’m a bit of a car guy, so they come in and out of my garage,” he said.

Goosen said he also wakeboarded for the first time, then tried water skiing again.

“I used to do slalom waterskiing, but after back surgery … well, before back surgery I sort of gave it up, so it will be 10 years. But I got out behind the boat. And it was a little sort of wobbly in the beginning, but later on, I started finding a little bit of stride. But I didn’t want to push myself and fall and twist an ankle, that’s for sure.”

Fred Couples’ down time was more routine. After playing in the Hoag Classic in Newport Beach, California, he headed to Palm Springs, where he, his girlfriend Suzanne Radcliffe and her son Hunter stayed until mid-June. Couples played basketball, golf and tennis with the 12-year-old, watched old movies, kids movies and lots of Netflix.

“Then went back to Newport, and you would have thought there wasn’t a coronavirus,” Couples said. “People were everywhere. And I’m not going to say no one cared, but there was a lot going on. Then they kind of shut California down and then it got a little serious.

“When you’re in Palm Springs, you kind of don’t see the world, except on TV. And everything was beautiful there. And it was beautiful in Newport, once people started paying attention.”

A Seattle native, Couples said he kept an eye on demonstrations against racial injustice in the Pacific Northwest.

Couples, 60, did not play two weeks ago in the Ally Challenge in Grand Blanc, Michigan, so this is his first experience with the Champions Tour’s COVID-19 protocol.

“I got here and I have never done so many things at a golf tournament and we’re only Wednesday morning,” he said. “I have been tested. I picked up my test. I went, had my temperature taken. I went back and got a ticket to get in the gates. Then I’m eating out of plastic that’s been wrapped up seven times, just to stay clean. And I got no problem with it.”

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Tiger Woods contemplates a putter change on the eve of first major

Woods, who has won 14 of his 15 majors with a Scotty Cameron Newport II putter, is considering switching to a prototype that is longer and with adjustable weights.

Any time Tiger Woods considers changing putters it is big news, but it is next level when he’s flirting with benching his trusty Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS gamer, the one he’s used for 14 of his 15 major titles, the week of a major championship. Even U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, who played a practice round with Woods on Wednesday at TPC Harding Park, was interested in this latest development.

“I asked him about the putter switch. It’s basically the same putter with a little bit more flexibility in the putter. He’s able to change the weights around a little bit…he’s got a little more length on there, and that’s just so he can practice a little bit more without back pain,” he said. “That’s what excites him the most is that he was able to put in a lot of time with this putter, and watching him putt, it looked exactly the same to me. He rolled the ball great.”

Field by the rankings | TV info | Tee times | Photos

The new putter is a Scotty Cameron prototype that Woods first began dabbling with at the British Open last summer, and has been practicing with ever since, according to Golf Channel, and will be a game-time decision.

Woods has struggled on the greens in his limited action this season. He ranked near the bottom of the Strokes Gained: Putting statistics at The Memorial, his lone start since the golf season resumed in June, and was No. 67 of 68 players to make the cut at the Genesis Invitational. As a matter of fact, if Woods had played enough rounds to qualify to be ranked in the season’s leaders, he would be No. 207 out of 214 golfers on Tour in SGP this season. That’s hard to fathom from arguably the greatest clutch putter of all-time.

PGA Championship
Tiger Woods looks at his yardage book on the 11th hole during a practice round for the PGA Championship golf tournament at TPC Harding Park. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

Stricker has served as Tiger’s unofficial putting coach for a number of years, and recalled the time at the 2013 WGC at Doral Resort when he finished second to Woods after giving him a pre-tournament tip.

“It was amazing to be a part of that little lesson with him, because I watched a guy struggle from the week before, I guess that he played, not putting very well, and then watching him on the putting green wasn’t very good. And then by the time the 45 minutes or an hour was up that I was putting with him, the confidence that he had was like a light switch; a light bulb went on for him. And then he made a lot of putts in the first and second rounds and his confidence just grew,” he said. “For him that week, if I remember right, it was a lot of the setup and the path of what his putter was going back on, and so I just worked on the setup a little bit, I remember, that week. But I didn’t touch him today. I didn’t want anything to do with that.

“He’s Tiger Woods. He’ll be just fine. He’s got a lot of talent when it comes to that short stick and he’ll do just fine.”

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