Steve Stricker isn’t just the defending champion of the Cologuard Classic. He hosts a PGA Tour Champions event. He remains active on the PGA Tour. He’s a husband. He’s a father. It can be a lot.
Did we mention Stricker is also the captain of the 2020 U.S. Ryder Cup team? The announcement — professional golf’s worst-kept secret — happened last week.
“It’s been a busy couple months already just trying to get things in line for the announcement, and then since the announcement there’s been a lot going on, which is what I expected,” Stricker said Thursday. “So I’ll have to manage that better if I want to play good. That’s the bottom line.”
That’s one of the biggest challenges Stricker will face over the next 18-plus months: continuing to perform on the course while dealing with the responsibilities of being a Ryder Cup captain.
Stricker’s next opportunity comes here in Tucson. The fifth iteration of the Cologuard Classic begins Friday morning at Omni Tucson National Resort.
“I’ve gotta refocus and know what I’m here for,” Stricker said, “and that’s to try to play well and try to win again.”
Stricker’s breakthrough on the Champions Tour came in last year’s Cologuard Classic. He would win two more times in 2018, when his worst finish was a tie for fifth in seven total starts.
Stricker hasn’t fared as well so far this year. He has made two starts on the Champions Tour, finishing tied for 29th and tied for 11th. His best finish in three PGA Tour events is a tie for 61st.
Stricker blames his performance on the greens more than his newfound captain duties.
“It’s been a weird season so far,” Stricker, 52, said. “I’ve had a hard time getting the ball in the hole. Been working hard. Things are starting to come together, starting to see some more positive things, hitting the ball OK. But it’s been about the putter really.”
Stricker ranks 156th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting. He ranked 134th in 2018. He was in the top seven each of the previous two years.
Stricker is averaging 1.789 putts per hole on the Champions Tour, up from 1.663 last year. Over three rounds, that can mean the difference between contending and winning.
“I’ve gone through little ups and downs with my putting before,” Stricker said. “Everybody does in this game. It’s just a little blip on the radar, I think.”
It’s nothing compared to Stricker’s mid-career slump. He lost his fully exempt status in 2004. Two years later, he was voted the PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year. He has won 12 times since on the PGA and Champions tours. He also has played on three Ryder Cup teams and served as captain of the 2017 Presidents Cup squad, which the Americans won in dominant fashion.
Respect and multitasking
Stricker’s peers believe his demeanor — unfailingly gracious off the course, fiercely competitive on it — makes him ideally suited to lead the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2020.
“The respect that the older and the younger players have for this man is what’s going to bind them together more than anything,” said Jerry Kelly, Stricker’s close friend.
“You see him as a great guy, always doing all the requests, doing everything you ask of him. But once you get inside the ropes, he is a killer.
“The old guys have known the burn is there. The young guys will see the burn and go, ‘Oh, jeez, I can actually act like this while I’m burning up inside.’ That’s what Steve has done.”
Kelly knows what it’s like to multitask. He’s the spokesman for Cologuard, and he had a difficult finding the right balance last year, his first in that capacity. He rallied in the third round, shooting a 65 to finish tied for second.
“I’ve gotten used to the duties now,” Kelly said. “Once I got inside the ropes last year, I was kind of like, ‘Whew.’ I didn’t really have it for the first round.
“It’s difficult, but it’s something that you want to take on. You want to be able to do some things for your fellow pros. You want to do some things for the company that is supporting you. And then you’ve got to just be able to do your job amongst all that.”
Picked apart
Being a Ryder Cup captain brings its own set of trials. In addition to media responsibilities, Stricker must monitor the performance of potential team members. The top eight in points make the squad automatically. The final four are captain’s picks.
“It’s pretty stressful,” said Fred Couples, a five-time Ryder Cup participant and two-time Presidents Cup captain. “I’m sure he’s thinking about it every day, and it’s, what, almost 18 months away.”
The captain had two picks when Tom Lehman filled the role in 2006. It was the aspect of the job he liked the least.
“The only thing that really stressed me out was the picks,” Lehman said. “There’s a lot of guys who are going to be very disappointed. If you have a conscience and you have a heart, knowing that you’re going to disappoint guys is difficult.”
Couples recalled an unpleasant conversation with Keegan Bradley in 2011. Couples chose Tiger Woods and Bill Haas over Bradley, who won two events that year, including the PGA Championship.
“The hardest thing was calling Keegan Bradley, who won a PGA and the Byron Nelson, and saying, ‘I didn’t put you on the team,’ ” Couples said. “It went on for an hour.”
Couples considers Stricker an “awesome” choice to be the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain. The event is scheduled for Sept. 25-27, 2020, at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin – Stricker’s home turf. He’ll know exactly what kind of players should excel on that course.
But Stricker’s countenance and the Americans’ home-course advantage don’t guarantee they’ll win. Europe has won nine of the past 12 Ryder Cup competitions, including four of the past five. If the U.S. loses, the captain invariably gets blamed.
“Jim Furyk was awesome and lost,” Couples said. “Tom Watson lost. Davis Love has one win and a loss. These are all guys I’ve known since I was 22 years old. They’re all incredible people.
“Tiger’s the Presidents Cup captain. I’m going to be an assistant. So we’ll see. If (the Americans) win, it’s incredible. If they lose, then it’s like, is it Tiger’s fault?”
Chip shots
- Kelly plans to play through a painful elbow that was surgically repaired Feb. 11. He played nine holes Tuesday and 18 Wednesday in the pro-am. “By the 18th hole, I could still grab my club. I haven’t been able to hold onto the club for a while,” Kelly said. “Game speed brings a whole new level but … I’m ready.”
- Champions Tour money leader Bernhard Langer had to withdraw Wednesday because of injury. “I hope it’s not a debilitating-type thing, because he’s had an incredible run,” Kelly said. “There’s no way he’s pulling out unless he’s hurt. I know Bernhard, and I respect him probably more than anybody out here.” Fran Quinn will replace Langer.
- Couples has two top-10 finishes in two starts, a sign that his balky back is feeling good. He skipped last year’s Cologuard Classic because of pack pain.
“I feel OK at the moment,” Couples said. “I want to try and really be ready for Augusta (The Masters). I know it sounds funny, but last year I wasn’t very healthy and went there and I made the cut, which was a huge deal because I was basically a cripple.”
