You know how Tiger Woods does this thing during warm-ups at the PNC Championship where, every once in a while, someone goes up to him and says hi? Well, last year, before Steve Stricker made his tournament debut alongside his daughter, Izzi, the then-56-year-old was one of those people who went up to his old friend. But instead of a ‘Hi, how’re you doing?’ it ended with a hug and an imitation…
An imitation of Steve Stricker’s swing, courtesy of Tiger Woods. That was what it was. But Woods being Woods, he purposefully duffed a chip to pull Stricker’s leg even more. That playful competitiveness continued into the tournament, especially on Sunday when Tiger and Charlie Woods played alongside Steve and Izzi Stricker. At the end of the day, the Woods tied for 5th while the Strickers finished 10th. And while they may have been rivals until the 36th hole, their time at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club ended with a wholesome moment.
“Great playing!” Tiger Woods told Izzi as he gave her a hug on the 18th green. “Proud of you.” Sharing snapshots from the tournament, Izzi wrote on Instagram, “The coolest week of my life @pncchampionship. I loved every second. Playing alongside my dad and two of my golf idols is something I’ll never forget.” As for her dad, he, too, had a blast, as was evident from his post-tournament tweet.
“What a special week!” Steve penned. Fast forward a year, and the father-daughter duo is all set to tee up in Orlando once more, but Woods’ participation is still in question. As we wait to see if we’ll witness Part 2 of the Strickers vs. the Woods at the PNC Championship, the 57-year-old golfer was recently moved to tears, and it was for a special cause.
The American Family Insurance Championship, established in 2016 through a collaboration between American Family Insurance, PGA TOUR Champions, and Wisconsin native Steve Stricker, has become a significant philanthropic event. Since its inception, it has raised over $17 million for the American Family Children’s Hospital and numerous other charities, demonstrating its impact beyond the golf course.
This year alone, the event raised $2.5 million. The American Family Insurance Championship is to be introduced with a new team competition format in 2025. Scheduled to be hosted on June 6, it will involve a day of scramble play, to be seen first time in the PGA Tour Champions. “With this tournament moving to a new course in 2025, it’s an ideal time to try a new format as well,” said Stricker.
He believes that this will add a level of intrigue and excitement to the game. “We appreciate how the Madison community has embraced the AmFam Champ, and the new format and course will continue to provide a unique experience for our fans,” added Stricker. He will be hosting it in 2025 TPC Wisconsin in Madison for the first time. The PGA Tour Champions shared a video of him breaking down while talking about what this tournament means to him, “I don’t know why I’m crying already, but as you can tell, this means a lot to me and [my wife], Nicki.”
Despite being dubbed rivals by the golf community, Steve Stricker has had long dreams of sharing the greens with Tiger Woods. He even wanted to play together at the 2024 Zurich Classic.
Steve Stricker expressed his desire to get back on the greens with Tiger Woods
Stricker is a “huge Tiger fan” and “wants to see him playing as much as he can.” In an episode of The Loop Podcast, Steve Stricker shared, “I thought about asking him to see if he wanted to play in New Orleans at the team event.” He went on to add how they have had amazing times being teammates on the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams.
“We had some great times being teammates on some of those (Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup) teams over the years. I guess I blurted it out loud when I was on a podcast with somebody. I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to get the band together one more time, for him and I to play again,’” he said, adding, “I don’t think that will happen. He’s got other issues than playing with me, but it would be fun, and it’s fun thinking about it.” He was also realistic and was concerned about the Woods’ health concerns.
He was to ask him at the PLAYERS but ended up saying, “Yeah, for him and me to play again. I don’t think that will happen; he’s got other issues than playing with me, but it would be fun, and it’s fun thinking about it.” A few weeks later, the field list was released, and well, Woods was not in the field, and the 12X PGA Tour player was paired up with Matt Kuchar. As it turns out, his dream of pairing up with the 82X PGA Tour champion will have to wait for quite some time now.
