Iron Man Stricker Shows Little Signs of Rust for Senior PGA Championship

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Steve Stricker, and it’s not likely to ease up for another five days with this week’s Senior PGA Championship. The 52-year-old has played two major championships in as many weeks and will be embarking on his third starting Thursday.

The 2020 Ryder Cup captain is hoping his results from his first major will be duplicated this week. Stricker won the PGA Tour Champions Regions Tradition two weeks ago, then followed it up playing in last week’s PGA Championship, where he missed the cut.

Splitting time between the two tours has been a balancing act for Stricker, who said he had signed up for the Charles Schwab event as well as the senior major.

“I don’t know what my mindset — that’s been part of the issue,” Stricker said. “I had signed up to play Colonial this week as well. I didn’t know where I was going to go. I think winning the Regions Tradition a couple weeks ago, made the most sense for me to come here and play another major and hopefully get in the mix again.”

Stricker Favorite to Win

Oddsmakers believe Stricker should be at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York. He is the 4/1 pick, with Bernhard Langer next at 7/1. Scott McCarron is the third choice at 10/1.

This event, like the other two, are four rounds, and Stricker said missing the cut at the PGA Championship helped him for this week.

“When I looked back at the schedule and was thinking that this would be three in three weeks, you don’t think much of it during the time,” Stricker said. “I missed the cut by a shot last week, so I had two days off to kind of rest up, and I didn’t do much golfing.”

McCarron said piling up the majors can be exhausting.

“Yeah, it is interesting,” McCarron said. “I think last year we had almost like four in five weeks or something like that. I mean, it was crazy. It’s a bit of a grind, honestly.”

Not Slowing Down

The performance by Stricker on the senior circuit has been much better than the regular tour. He has played in five events, won one and finished in the top 10 two other times. On the PGA Tour, he has missed the cut in three of six events, and his highest finish is a tie for 58^th.

Those results, though, haven’t deterred Stricker from still playing on the PGA Tour. He said on Tuesday if he is eligible for an event, he is going to play in it.

“I’m just taking the next few weeks as they come,” Stricker said. “I know I’m playing next week. They gave me a spot at the Memorial Tournament. I’m going to play at Jack’s place. I’m going to try to qualify for the U.S. Open. And then I’ll probably — if I get in Open, obviously play there. If not, I’ll probably have a couple weeks off, and then it’s in our Champions Tour event in Madison, and then the U.S. Senior Open for sure.”