STEVENS POINT, Wisc. — Steve Stricker has come full circle.
Nearly four decades after winning the WIAA state golf tournament, the Edgerton native makes his long-awaited return to SentryWorld Golf Course. But this time to win his second U.S. Senior Open title.
“It’s great to be able to hop in your car, drive up the road to compete here at a place that I won at 39 years ago. It’s pretty crazy that all this time has flown by. It’s a special spot,” Stricker, now of Madison, said Tuesday. “This is one of the first golf courses in Wisconsin, like the new-design kind of course that we were able to play as junior golfers.
“It’s pretty special to be able to come back here full circle. To play a Champions Tour major out here is pretty neat.”
Since his arrival in Stevens Point on Monday, the 56-year-old said a few memories have returned from his first-place performance in 1984.
“I remember the flowers (on the 16th hole). That’s what I remember. I remember shooting 76 and 76. Now that’s not going to get it done this week here,” Stricker said. “I remember my family and friends obviously being here. (But) beyond that and the couple scores that I shot, that’s about it.”
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Rough and fairways will be ‘legitimate test’ for golfers
Hosting a U.S. Golf Association championship is not new for SentryWorld, as the course most recently held the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in 2019.
But this week’s 43rd installment of the senior major will be the biggest-profile event on the 7,177-yard course in its 42-year history. In addition, it is the first major championship to be held in central Wisconsin.
The course, which was designed by Robert Trent Jones, went through the largest round of renovations in its history in 2021. It has been closed since late September, as fine-tuning was done to prepare for this week.
“It’s in great shape,” Stricker said. “Looking forward to the start of it.”
Much talk leading into this week has been about the length of the roughs and the need to drive the ball accurately.
“Depending on how they set it up, it’s a legitimate test. It’s going to be a challenge,” Stricker said. “Unless they’ve mowed (the rough) here the last couple days, it’s very thick. It’s very penal. If you’re going to be playing out of the rough, it’s going to be hard to get the ball on the green, first of all, or even close to the hole.”
Stricker said he hadn’t come up with a game plan yet as far as playing aggressively Thursday and Friday, especially on three par-5s on the course, but the key will be to hit it in the fairway.
“It really is going to be as simple as that, to be able to try to go for it. I don’t have a lot of extra power in there,” Stricker said. “I may be able to get it out there another 5 or 10 extra yards if I swing a little bit harder, but it’s going to be about getting it in play in the fairway.”
His wife, Nicki, will caddy again this week. She caddied for Stricker when he won the AmFam Championship earlier this month with a record 18 under par at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison. It was his fourth title in the 11 tournaments he has competed in this season.
“It’s her bag any time she wants it,” Stricker said. “She couldn’t make it today, but she’ll be here tomorrow and the rest of the week. Sometimes she has enough of it and sometimes she’s like, ‘Yeah, I want to go’ so it’s totally up to her.”
A win the Strickers won't soon forget 🥲 @amfamchamp @stevestricker @nicstricker @bobbistrick @IzziStricker pic.twitter.com/DBcCMojr2X
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) June 11, 2023
‘Different pressure’ for Stricker this time
Stricker’s history in majors in the Badger State hasn’t been the best. He missed qualifying for the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits before finishing tied for 18th at the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Then he had to qualify for the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills after not receiving an exemption.
But recently, the tide has turned.
Stricker helped lead the U.S. to victory over Europe in the 2021 Ryder Cup as its captain. He also has two senior major titles under his belt this season, winning the Regions Tradition by six strokes May 14 before taking the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in a playoff against Padraig Harrington on May 26.
“I’m predicting Steve is going to be one of the guys who has a chance to win and I want to be the guy that makes birdie on this really hard 18th hole to not let him win,” Madison native Jerry Kelly told the Journal Sentinel.
“But you can’t discount what this guy is doing this year. I mean, he’s winning our majors by five and six shots and playing absolutely unbelievable golf. He’s got the best-putter-on-tour moniker for a reason.”
Stricker, who has won eight tournaments in the last two years, said his recent success has come from finding consistency.
“It’s about doing the same things that I’ve been doing,” Stricker said. “I’ve been doing pretty much everything fairly well, driving it in the fairway, getting it on the greens. I’ve been putting better lately (too).”
He said playing in his home state is different than in 2010 and 2017 given where he is in his career.
“I’m kind of enjoying things a little more (now),” Stricker said. “Back in those days when we were playing at Whistling Straits or Erin Hills, I probably felt more pressure.
“I (also) got a different perspective on life and golf lately so, it’s like, ‘Let’s go have fun and see where it goes (sort) of thing.’ That’s kind of the way I’m playing. You can play better that way, I think, and I’m enjoying it a lot.”
It’s part of why Stricker said he doesn’t feel the same type of pressure now.
“Obviously I’m feeling pressure this week. I want to play well. I want to compete and try to have the opportunity to win, but back then that’s a different level” Stricker said.
Nine other golfers have been in the same shoes as Stricker regarding the task at hand: win three consecutive senior major championships.
But none have done it. Bernhard Langer was the last to attempt it in 2017, but he tied for 18th in the U.S. Senior Open at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Massachusetts.
Perhaps Stricker will end that drought and have another victory Miller Lite.
“To win here would mean a lot. It’s a major championship, first of all. It’s right here in our backyard and I’ve had history on this golf course,” Stricker said. “It would be a really cool, really cool spot to win.”
