Stricker survives in Memorial,
avoids blot on standout career
DUBLIN, Ohio – Given that this is Jack Nicklaus’ tournament, the Memorial, and his golf course, Muirfield Village, it follows that there have been some, well, memorable moments on the 18th green over the 36 years. Possibly most notably was the one in 1993, when Paul Azinger holed his blast out of a deep greenside bunker to win.The 2011 Memorial, likewise, had its gripping moment at the 18th, and even a few other holes earlier, before Steve Stricker could decide which Steve Stricker he was – the new one or the old one. Well, he played like the new one on the front nine, and like you-know-who on the back, but fortunately had built enough of a safety cushion so that when pieces began to fall off, he could get to the house before it all caved it.
For those scoring at home, just say that for the tournament, he put on a Jekyll and Hyde show. He shot the front nine in 20 under par – it adds up fast when you have, as he did, a hole-in-one in the second round and two eagles in the third -- and the back in an awkward 4 over. The strange performance seemed more pronounced under the spotlight of the final round, during which he seemed as capable of putting a great blot on his career as he did in notching his 10th career victory.
But all things are more or less possible. Consider Stricker’s career: He’d started convincingly, then mysteriously slid into the depths in 2003, ’04 and ’05. And then two amazing things happened. He won the PGA Tour’s Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2006. And then he won it again in 2007. How to explain back-to-back comeback awards is best left to astrologers and such.
But what a shame if he had taken the blot, instead. Raise the banner for this rare guy. Stricker is one of the finest people in sport, not just golf – a pleasing, friendly, gentle guy. No posturing, no tantrums, no squabbling. He had Nicklaus gushing: “He’s a superstar not only from the way he handles his game, but from the way he’s behaved himself, the way he handles people and the way he handles fans.”
But reality says that character studies count for naught when it comes to the clubface meeting the ball, and there were some strange meetings Sunday.
Note that Stricker shot the front nine in 6-under 30, and the back in 2-over 38. That may not seem such a big difference in numbers, but it’s near-fatal with the hounds at one’s heels. It was also the kind of contrast that attracts psychologists.
It probably is not unfair nor inaccurate to note that Stricker seemed to be starting to choke. He said as much himself, if not quite so descriptively, and it did take him time to get to that point.
First, there was the handicap of the 2 1/2-hour weather delay late in the afternoon. He’d made the turn at 18 under, and was leading by three. Then came the long pause. Everyone faced the same pause, but not everyone had to reflect on how bad it would look to blow that lead, and different golfers reflect different ways.
“I’m not too familiar with having a big lead,” Stricker said. And then he added, most revealingly, “The thought of not performing down the stretch comes into your mind.”
First, he had survived an incredible test at the par-3 12th. He’d put his tee shot into a back bunker, and was facing a shot to a green that fell away toward him and ran toward a bunker and the fronting pond, the first dangerous, the second maybe fatal. He hit a spectacular soft blast that dropped on the fringe and trickled down to within a foot of the hole, letting him take a deep breath with the saved par.
(“That was an unbelievable bunker shot,” Nicklaus was to say.)
The weather delay caught him on the 13th, and he parred along to the 15th, and there the cracks appeared. He drove well to the left, into deep rough behind a tree, and had to take a penalty drop. It was his first bogey of the day.
“That was one of my old shots that crept in there,” he said. “I hadn’t hit one of those all week.”
At the par-3 16th, he put his tee shot into a greenside bunker, and came out awfully, to 16 feet. But he holed the putt and saved par again. Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe, both chasing him, were shooting 65s, but couldn’t close the gap.
Stricker saved at again at the 17th. He put his approach into a greenside bunker, could only get out to 7 feet, but holed that one, too.
In the parlance of golf, he was leaking oil. He was trying to get home before he ran dry.
At the 18th, he bunkered his tee shot, and hit a 6-iron into the rough between the left front bunker and the green, and then made what looked like a lousy chip. But maybe not.
“I didn’t want to send that chip past the hole because I know how slippery and quick it is above that hole,” he said. “So I figured if I got it on that upper tier, I could two-putt. I was just trying to make a 5 and get out of there. I just wanted to be done and get it over with.”
His chip ended up 14 feet from the hole. But remember – he was leading by two. So he comfortably two-putted, got his 68 and his one-shot win. Somebody noted that no Memorial winner had ever played the back 9 in over par. So in one respect, Stricker had just set a record.
He also set a personal record.
Stricker’s noted for his trademark tears. He breaks into tears at the drop of a birdie. Now he was chuckling at himself.
“But I didn’t cry on the TV interview, and I’m not crying here,” he told the media corps. “I think I’m getting better.”
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