A week ago, Steve Stricker was at Mission Hills Country Club not playing golf but instead working as the caddie for his daughter Bobbi in 100-plus degree temperatures at the first stage of LPGA Qualifying. She was among the 106 golfers to advance.
This week, he was back at work at his regular job and doing it quite well, shooting a final-round 67 to win the PGA Tour Champions 2022 Ally Challenge in Grand Blanc, Michigan, by a shot at 15 under.
“Our family’s been going through a lot of golf lately. I caddied for Bobbi last week and that was probably cooler than this,” he said after his win Sunday. “Just to be a part of what she did and to see the enjoyment and the excitement on her face knowing that she’s going on to the next stage means a lot to a dad. That was pretty cool. Like I said, I think that was cooler than today. We’ve had some fun the last few weeks and hopefully we can continue that going forward.”
Stricker said he’ll be back working as a caddie soon which will likely alter his Champions tour goals. But he’s cool with that.
“It’s always been to try to get up as close as I can to the Schwab Cup, right,” he said. “Now my daughter’s going on second stage of tour school so that changes things because I’m going to be looping and I’m going to be on the bag, so I’m going to probably miss a couple events in there, but I’ll keep playing as much as I can and hopefully keep playing well and get as close as I can.”
Stricker, making his debut in the Ally Challenge, has now won nine times on the senior circuit. Brett Quigley, closed with a 68 to finish second.
Jeff Maggert posted Sunday’s best round, a 65, and got it to 13 under which was good enough for the outright lead but it wouldn’t hold. He would finish solo third, two shots back.
Scott Dunlap, who tied the tournament record with a 63 on Saturday, started the final round leading by a shot on Stricker, Padraig Harrington and Brett Quigley. He closed with a 71 and finished tied for fourth along with Harrington, last week’s Champions tour winner.
Fred Funk, 66, beat his age by a shot on Friday and held the solo lead after 18 holes but ended up in a tie for eighth. It was the sixth time a golfer on the PGA Tour Champions shot his age or better this season.
Bernhard Langer, who turned 65 on Saturday, shot 70-69-72 to finish tied for 28th.
