About Steve Stricker

Despite his breakout season in 1996, Stricker struggled with his consistency throughout the majority of his early career and eventually lost his PGA Tour card in 2005. He earned nearly $1.4 million in 1996 but had managed just over $829,000 in the previous four seasons combined. Stricker's up and down performance continued until 2006 when he racked up $1.8 million and earned the PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year award.

Since winning the award in 2006, Stricker has been a mainstay at the top of the World Golf Rankings and on the PGA Tour money list. After compiling a career-best $4.6 million during the 2007 season, Stricker repeated as Comeback Player of the Year. Stricker finished second to Tiger Woods in the 2007 FedEx Cup standings and qualified for the USA Presidents Cup team.

Stricker's most notable win came at the 2001 Accenture Match Play Championship and his most recent victory came at the 2009 John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois, where he finished 20-under par. It was Stricker's second victory of the year, following a winless 2008 campaign.

Although he's yet to win a major, Stricker has been near the top of the leader board on several different occasions. In total, he's notched nine top 10 finishes in major competition, including a second place finish at the 1998 PGA Championship. Although Stricker struggled to a 0-2-1 record during the 2008 Ryder Cup, the American team defeated the Europeans for the first time since 1999.

Stricker and his wife, Nicki, currently live in Madison, Wisconsin, along with their two daughters. Stricker's wife served as his full-time caddie until 1998 and has resumed those duties intermittently throughout the years. Stricker is a four-time winner of the Wisconsin State Open and was inducted into the Wisconsin State Golf Association Hall of Fame in 2007.