Stricker's Streak: PGA Tour Champions Schwab Cup leader on a serious roll after winning PGA

Steve Stricker has been on a Tiger-like roll on the PGA Tour Champions since last fall.

Since recovering from an illness to win his last two starts of the 2022 season — the Sanford International and the Furyk & Friends at the Timuquana Country Club — Stricker has contended in 13 consecutive tournaments, finishing outside the top-five only once and outside the top-two only four times.

Suffice it to say, he has a huge lead in the Schwab Cup, more than $1 million over second-place David Toms.

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Stricker's victory last week at the Kitchen Aid Senior PGA Championship in Frisco, Texas, made him the first three-time winner this season and gave him six victories since he captured the Ally Challenge. Stricker shot 18-under to get into a playoff with Padraig Harrington and has a streak of 49 consecutive par or lower rounds.

He's won six Champions Tour majors and 14 events in all.

Stricker has shot in the 60s in 25 of his 29 competitive rounds this season. He’s averaged 67.17 in his last 13 starts.

His secret? As far as he’s concerned, it’s no secret: Stricker is pounding fairways relentlessly (16th in driving accuracy at 78.9 and 16th in driving distance with 287.0 yards this season), setting up numerous short irons and wedge shots into the greens – where he’s second in greens in regulation (80.0) and second in putts per green hit in regulation (1.681).

“I've always been a good wedge player, all the way back to my days at Illinois,” Stricker said. “It was always the strength of my game. I grew up on a couple of short courses, small greens where I really had to manage my game around the greens. I feel like I've got a simple approach in my own mind and I continue to do it and do it over and over. I try to play to those strengths.”

Harrington, who out-drove Stricker in the final round every hole, said Stricker “has the best wedge game in the world. … very impressive.”

Jack mutes himself

Jack Nicklaus admitted that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan “wasn’t very happy with me” when Nicklaus said in March that the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am would be one of the PGA Tour’s “Elevated Events,” in 2024, junping the gun on when the Tour was ready to release the information.

That’s why he took a neutral stance on whether it was his preference that the tournament he hosts this week, the Memorial, will be one of the elevated events with no cut and a limited field of 80 players next season.

Tiger Woods wants the tournament he hosts, the Genesis Invitational, to have a 36-hole cut. Nicklaus said on Tuesday at the Muirfield Village Golf Club that he’s fine either way.

“I opened my mouth too soon there at the Honda before they announced anything,” Nicklaus said. “And I don't blame him [Monahan] because I did not realize that they hadn't done anything. And they really haven't finalized what's happening here, so out of fairness to Jay, I think I'll just keep my mouth shut. That's hard for me to do. You know that.”

Grillo gives kids a thrill

Emiliano Grillo had just double-bogeyed the 72nd hole at Colonial in Fort Worth to drop out of the lead in the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge.

But while waiting to see if he would get into a playoff (he did, beating Adam Schenk), Grillo didn’t slink off to the practice range and feel sorry for himself.

Instead, he invited two young boys to come out on the range and hit some shots with him — with a security guard lifting one of them over a fence.

Grillo said Jose Coceres made a similar gesture for him when he was a boy growing up in Argentina and he never forgot it.

Grillo said he also had a bit of an ulterior motive

“It’s also something that helped to get my mind off the situation," he said. “I just made a double. I basically gave the tournament away, and it wasn’t up to me. It wasn’t in my hands. It was a moment that I needed to get my head out of that.”

And their big day wasn’t through when Grillo began the playoff. When it was over, he invited the boys into the locker room and signed gloves for them.

Aberg gets his card

Texas Tech senior Ludvig Aberg finished first in the final PGA Tour University rankings of college seniors and earned a card for the rest of the season.

What’s more, it was announced at the site of the NCAA Championship that he earned the Fred Haskins Award as the nation’s top college golfer.

Aberg’s tie for 29^th in the individual portion of the tournament was more than good enough to clinch first on the PGA Tour U rankings. He also has status for the 2024 season but is subject to reshuffles.

The PGA Tour U rankings are a combination of the World Amateur Ranking and professional tournaments that college players compete in as sponsor invitees or Monday qualifiers.

Florida’s Fred Biondi moved from third to second with his individual NCAA title.

Aberg earned a record number of votes for the Haskins Award. He won four times and had nine top-10 finishes in 10 starts for the Red Raiders this season, won the Big 12 conference championship and an NCAA region title.

Content from the Associated Press and pgatour.com was used in this report.

PGA TOUR

Event: The Memorial, Thursday-Sunday, Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio.

At stake: $20 million purse ($3.6 million and 550 FedEx Cup points to the winner).

Defending champion: Billy Horschel.

TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m.); CBS (Saturday-Sunday, 2:30-6 p.m.).

Area players entered: Harris English, Lanto Griffin, Brian Harman, Horschel, Zach Johnson, David Lingmerth, Keith Mitchell, Trey Mullinax, J.T. Poston, Sam Ryder, Davis Thompson.

Notable: The designated event field is led by the top-three players on the world golf rankings, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. … Horschel shot 65 in the third and went on to beat Aaron Wise by four shots for his seventh PGA Tour title. … Also playing are Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Cameron Young. … The only world top-10 players not in the field are No. 6 Max Homa, who is attending his sister’s wedding; No. 9 Cameron Smith, who plays with LIV Golf; and No. 10 Will Zalatoris, who is out for the season with a back injury.

LPGA TOUR

Event: Mizuho Americas Open, Thursday-Sunday, Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City, N.J.

At stake: $2.75 million purse ($412,500 to the winner).

Defending champion: First-year event.

TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Saturday, 5-8 p.m.; Sunday, 5-7:30 p.m.).

Area players entered: Chella Choi, Mel Reid.

Notable: Rose Zhang, off her second NCAA individual title with Stanford, will make her professional debut. She was first on the women’s world amateur rankings for a record 140 consecutive weeks. … Michelle Wie West is the tournament host. American Junior Golf Association members will play with LPGA players.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

Event: Principle Charity Classic, Friday-Sunday, Wakonda Club, Des Moines, Iowa.

At stake: $2 million purse ($300,000 to the winner).

Defending champion: Jerry Kelly.

TV: Golf Channel

Area players entered: David Duval, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh.

Notable: Kelly birdied the first playoff hole to beat Kirk Triplett. … Steve Stricker has won both PGA Tour Champions majors this season and is the first three-time winner on the tour in 2023. … Stewart Cink made his PGA Tour Champions debut last week at the Senior PGA and missed the Stricker-Padraig Harrington playoff by two shots.

KORN FERRY TOUR

Event: UNC Health Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Raleigh (N.C.) Country Club.

At stake: $1 million purse ($180,000 to the winner).

Defending champion: Davis Thompson.

TV: None.

Area players entered: A.J. Crouch, Taylor Dickson, Jared Wolfe.

Notable: Thompson, a St. Simons Island, Ga., resident, shot 64 in the first round and went on to beat Andrew Yun and Vincent Norrman by two shots.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Steve Stricker continues his torrid play on PGA Tour Champions