Buzzin Golf

Among those likely to be at the fore of the betting market for this The Open Championship at St Andrews this year there is one player who almost always gets ignored because of his simple efficiency and low profile.

The golfer in question just happens to be the best active player in the world at the moment, but how things have changed in the last five years for Steve Stricker, who looked to be heading out of the sport not very long ago.

The 42-year-old Wisconsin native won for the first time on the PGA Tour back in 1996 at the Kemper Open, and went on to add a second tournament victory that season but those would be his only successes until the new millennium.

His biggest victory, in cash terms, came in 2001 at the WGC-Accenture Match Play but only three years after that, with his exemptions all gone, Stricker lost his way and eventually lost his card before spending time in the wilderness.

But he regained his love for the game after a break and, relying on sponsors’ exemptions, became the PGA Tour’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2006 after finishing in the top ten of seven tournaments.

A win would come in 2007 at The Barclays, but 2009 proved to be his best year and the one that put him right up there among the Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson’s of the world – as usual, he got no headlines.

Steve Stricker has already visited the winners’ enclosure in 2010 so his next aim is to break a duck in the major championships – his best performance so far came all the way back in 1998 in the US PGA at Sahalee. He might manage this before the summer as the golf betting currently makes him joint fourth favourite for the US Masters.

However, regardless of his performance at that event his game should be ideal for St Andrews this summer, especially if the weather is good. The fact that he missed the cut on his only previous visit back in 2000 can be ignored as his form was nothing like it is now.

Stricker does not rely on booming drives – he is more a finesse player – and St Andrews should set up perfectly for him since his putting will be a huge bonus on the massive greens he will face.

If Tiger Woods fails to make his way back to the tour by then – he would still probably be favourite if he turned up – then Stricker could be land the biggest payday of his career and secure a massive boost in a Ryder Cup year.