Steve Stricker life and biography

Steven Stricker is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour including the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and two FedEx Cup playoff events.

Stricker and has won six times on the PGA Tour. His most successful season on tour came in 1996, when he notched two victories, one at the Kemper Open and the other at Motorola Western Open, and seven top ten finishes on his way to finishing fourth on the 1996 PGA Tour money list. Stricker's third and most impressive win came at the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, where he defeated Pierre Fulke 2 and 1 to earn the $1,000,000 prize. He won the The Barclays tournament on August 26, 2007 ending an 11-year losing span on American soil.

In 1998, Steve Stricker played himself into contention in the final round of the PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club in Redmond, Washington. Thanks to a back-nine surge, PGA Tour veteran Vijay Singh bested Stricker down the stretch and claimed a two-stroke victory. The runner-up finish remains Stricker's best result in a major championship.
Stricker has six times finished inside the Top 20 at the U.S. Open, his best finish a fifth-place score at the 1999 U.S. Open played at Pinehurst No. 2.

In 2006 Stricker was voted PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year, largely due to his seven top-10 finishes. His renewed form continued throughout 2007, qualifying for the Presidents Cup and after his victory at The Barclays, Stricker reached a high of 4th in the Official World Golf Rankings. Stricker finished runner-up in the 2007 FedEx Cup Playoffs to Tiger Woods.

In 2008 at the Mercedes Benz Championship Stricker lost out in a play-off to Daniel Chopra. This result took him to 3rd in the world rankings. He has spent over 50 weeks in the top-10 of the rankings since 2007.

In the 2009 Stricker won his fifth tournament on tour at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial at the end of May with a playoff win over Tim Clark and Steve Marino. This was helped by a crucial 60 foot chip-in on the penultimate 71st hole of the championship. He won again at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois. After a rained-out second round on Friday, the field was forced to play 36-holes on Sunday. Stricker shot an afternoon round of 64, which included a holed wedge shot for eagle on the 6th hole. He went on to win the event by three strokes over Zach Johnson, Brandt Snedeker and Brett Quigley. He also matched his career low round on tour with a second round of 61 (-10).

In February 2010, Stricker won his eighth PGA Tour title at the 2010 Northern Trust Open after shooting a final round 70, which was enough for a 16-under-par 268 winning total. With this win, he deposed Phil Mickelson and regained his ranking as World No. 2

In July 2010, Stricker shot a career-low 60 (−11) in the first round of the John Deere Classic at TPC at Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. However, a 59 shot by Paul Goydos incredibly put him one stroke back of the lead. He followed with rounds of 66 and 62, for a total of 188, to set the PGA Tour's 54-hole scoring record. He would then shoot 70 on Sunday to win by two strokes over Goydos and earn his ninth PGA Tour win.

In June 2011, Stricker added another prestigious title to his career resume with a victory at the 2011 Memorial Tournament. This was the tenth PGA Tour title of his career. Stricker opened the tournament with a 4 under round of 68 and bettered this on day two with a 67, however this was made special by the hole-in-one he recorded at the par three 8th hole to hold a three stroke advantage at the halfway stage. Remarkably he then opened round three with two eagles in the first five holes to open up a six shot lead midway through round three, but some uncharacteristic mistakes on the back nine saw him fall back towards the rest of the field. He held on to the 36-hole lead to eventually win by one stroke over Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe. With this victory Stricker became the highest-ranked American in the Official World Golf Ranking at No. 4 in the world. For the first time in his career, Stricker was ranked higher than all other American golfers, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Stricker played the tournament at −20 for the front nine, a record by 6 shots, versus +4 for the back nine.

Stricker won his second tournament of 2011 and 11th overall on the PGA Tour at the John Deere Classic. He beat Kyle Stanley by one stroke after holing a 30 foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole of regulation play. Stricker had been in a commanding position throughout most of Sunday's round, however he bogeyed the 15th and 16th to fall two strokes behind Stanley. He then bounced back with a birdie on the par five 17th while Stanley made bogey on the 18th. Stricker, tied for the lead at this point, drove into a fairway bunker off the tee and then played his second shot just over the back of the green, but would hole the putt from the fringe for the victory. This was Stricker's third straight victory at the John Deere Classic becoming just the 10th golfer since World War II to win a tournament three straight times.

Stricker, who is considered one of the best players without a major championship shot a major championship record 63 in the first round at the 2011 PGA Championship and lead by 2 shots after 1 round. However he faded away on the last 3 days shooting rounds of 74-69-73 and ended up in a T12.

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