Steve Stricker

Steven Charles Stricker (born February 23, 1967) is an American professional golfer. Stricker was born in Edgerton, Wisconsin.

A 1990 graduate of the University of Illinois, Stricker turned professional in 1990 and has won five times on the PGA Tour. His most successful season on tour came in 1996, when Stricker notched two victories (Kemper Open, 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.

Largely due to his seven top-10 finishes, Stricker was voted PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year in 2006. 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. He was again voted PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year in 2007.

In the Mercedes Benz Championship, the opening event of the 2008 season, Stricker lost out in a play-off to Daniel Chopra. This result took Stricker to 3rd in the world rankings. He has spent over 50 weeks in the top-10 of the rankings since 2007. In the 2009 Bob Hope Classic, Stricker shot third and fourth round scores of 61 and 62, at the PGA West Palmer and Nicklaus courses, to set the 36-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour at 123, beating a record that Pat Perez had held for only two days. His four round total of 33 under par in the five round event also set the PGA Tour record for lowest score relative to par for 72 holes, exceeding Ernie Els' total of 31 under par in the 2003 Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua. The third-round 61 is Stricker's best score on Tour. Stricker won later in 2009 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.

Stricker's third win of 2009 came in September at the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second of four playoff events. He began the final round tied with Retief Goosen and Sean O'Hair, and birdied the final hole to win the event by one stroke over Jason Dufner and Scott Verplank.

Stricker has been called "Mr. September" due to his success in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, where he has never finished below the top-25 in any of his ten career starts.