Stricker is Strictly Business at Colonial

Stricker is strictly business at Colonial where he is leading by one shot after opening with back-to-back 63s.

Even after shattering the 36-hole record by two strokes he was unaware of it and is not getting ahead of himself. “Really? I did not know that. I would rather have the trophy (than records), and we're halfway through.

"I have to stay focused and try to continue to do the things that I did these last couple of days and try to, you know, just keep making putts.  That solves a lot of problems.  Just keep doing that, and hopefully, you know, I don't want to think about results.  It's too early.  Just try to continue what I'm doing.” 

Stricker’s not all business though and showed his heart five weeks ago after shooting a Sunday 67 and finishing T7. He hung around for the finish of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. His Madison, Wisconsin buddy Jerry Kelly came through down the stretch and won his first tournament in seven years.

The Ryder Cup Champion was waiting there in the tunnel for Kelly who embraced him as he came off the 18^th green and said “I could not have done it without you buddy.”

Stricker has not won since that memorable win at the first PGA TOUR playoff event for the FedEx Cup back at The Barclays in 2007. Prior to that he had not won in six years dating back to the 2001 WGC- Accenture Match Play Championship.

Comebacks inspire us all. Steve Stricker’s has given every 42-year old golfer hope that turning 40 is not the end of but the beginning of golfing success on the links.

Inspired by Stricker his buddy Jerry Kelly won. Now maybe it is time that Stricker is inspired by Kelly and he wins again. Maybe they could go back and forth like this on their way to the Champions Tour?

Stricker has been all business at Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial opening with a pair of 63s. Recording eight birdies and one bogey each day his play is solid after only playing THE PLAYERS since New Orleans.

Rested 42-year olds can compete on the PGA TOUR.

“It's been a good year. I've had some opportunities to win. Putting hasn't been poor; it just hasn't been as good as what I would have liked it to have been. It's an area where I started concentrating on. I have had a good year so far. A couple of disappointments in not winning a tournament or two earlier on, but so far it's been very solid.”

Still he has five top-10 finishes in 11 starts this year.

On Thursday it was evident golfers were going low on the recently renovated Colonial Country Club track.

“It was a great day for scoring, we saw it right away early on this morning with some low scores and the conditions were just, I guess, right for good scoring, you know, very little wind, soft conditions on the greens and the greens being a little slower than normal I think is the reasons why the scoring was so good. Fortunately I was able to take advantage of that this afternoon. The wind stayed down a little bit.”

“It was a good day. I made a lot of putts which is always a good thing. It was a good start.”

Stricker like most of the golfers likes the changes made at Colonial.

“I like the changes a lot. I think they gave us some better visuals off the tee on some of the holes with bunkering. Some of the tees that they moved back, I think the angles have gotten a little better. It took away some of the longer ball, the longer hitter's advantage, I think. It kind of played more into a guy that hits it, you know, middle of the pack as far as distance goes.”

“They added some bunkers on some key driving holes or driving areas that if a long hitter is going to take on that bunker he's got to carry it a long ways now. It kind of forces everybody on the same page and kind of backs everybody up in the same area at times, unless you're going to be aggressive with it.”

I'm not a long hitter, so it's kind of good for a guy like me. I just think the conditions were good. I think the biggest thing the greens are soft, so I think that's why you are seeing good scores. They are not fast so guys can be very aggressive putting it.”

Did Stricker foresee his second consecutive seven-under 63?

“I see the fairways firming up but I don't see the greens really firming up. I think they are going to continue soft all the way through. It just doesn't seem like they have the appearance or the structure to get firm.”

“It doesn't seem like there is a lot of root structure there. A big ball mark when you do land on the green, and it's hot. I don't know how much they can really stress the greens out when it gets this hot. They have to keep them fairly soft to keep them growing and alive.”

“I see everything firming up except for the greens. If the wind blows that's what's going to dictate the scoring here. But if it continues to be soft, I think the scoring is going to continue to be good.”

His scoring and others were good in the second round. South African Tim Clark went 63-64 and is one stroke back.

Fijian Vijay Singh opened with a pair of 64s and is two strokes back.

There are no ties among the top seven players on the leader board. All separated by one stroke- Stricker, Clark, Singh, followed by Sean O’Hair, Jason Day, Woody Austin, and Ryan Palmer.

Five players including new World No. 3 Paul Casey are T8 seven strokes back of Stricker. After Friday’s morning round Stricker was at peace with his golfing performance.

“It's been a lot of fun.  I kept the ball in play very well, giving myself a lot of opportunities.  I think I only missed three greens today.  I hit the ball on the greens a lot.  I had some short putts for birdies and some longer ones and made a little bit of both.  But, obviously, rolling the ball very well on the greens and making a lot of putts.”

Is it tough to follow a low round of 63 with another low round of 63?

“It was pretty much the same type of round.  I hit the ball pretty much the same.  I may have hit it a little closer today than I did yesterday.  Yesterday I made, I don't know, I made some longer putts yesterday and today I think I hit it in there a little bit closer today and giving myself some shorter looks at it.  So I think, if anything, you know, that was the difference.”

Apparently it seemed like a continuous hot round of 36 holes.

“It was a little bit of an advantage playing in the afternoon (Thursday) and (Friday) morning.  We were able to keep going under very similar conditions.  The wind was almost identical, the firmness of the course is pretty much the same, and the speed and the greens were identical, too.” 

“So it was like there were no changes for us.  I don't know what they are going to have this afternoon.  For us, there were really no changes from one round to the next, and that doesn't happen too many times, but it happened yesterday and today.”

“Late yesterday and early morning, is sometimes tough because you don't get a lot of rest, and you are right back at it again which is good at times.  But also you don't, you know, you don't get that rest.  You don't have a good night's sleep because you are still charged up from the round yesterday.  So I just kind of came out and tried to ease back into it and tried not to force things.”

Is four 63s in a row possible? That would be a 28-under 252 at Colonial shattering the tournament record of 261 by Kenny Perry when he won in 2003 and 2005.

Records are made to be broken.   

And oh by the way golf is golf and plays no favorites.

Stricker’s buddy Jerry Kelly shot 70-71 and missed the cut by a single stroke.

He will be rooting his buddy on from in front of the television back home in Madison, Wisconsin.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]