BEACH PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – At 6:45 am ET, Steve Stricker ‘s phone was live – he was now the first dealer in the Player Championship.
Stricker had been keeping records on the other list into the PGA Tour pavilion event after starting last week as the fifth in a row. One by one the dominoes fell in control and when he moved to the top of the list he knew it was time to take action.
“I knew [Justin Rose] I was not doing so well. He didn’t even hit a ball from what I understand, so they blew the pilots together, ”said Stricker.
Steve Stricker added to the pitch at The Players at the last minute
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Stricker, 54, was flown from Naples, Florida, to St. Louis. Augustine on a private flight and landed around 9:35 am. With a model car waiting for him, he ran to the COVID-19 test center and then to TPC Sawgrass, where he was Eric Larson, a supporter, gave Harris English before pulling out the food incident for him while he waited for test results.
Shortly afterwards, Rose withdrew from the event citing “personal medical reasons” and Stricker began starting at 1:11 pm without playing a practice round and with some preparation. None of that seemed to bother Stricker, who scored four consecutive holes starting at No. 14 (he started his round at No. 10). He finished with a 2-under 70 and tied for 12th a place where darkness stopped playing for the day.
“There are always some benefits, at least I see them as benefits, I didn’t have to put myself in control of Monday, Tuesday and once, I didn’t even play or play. hitting a ball on Monday or Tuesday back in Naples, ”he said. “I was really excited to come here to a place where I’ve played a handful before and the hard part was just trying to speed up the greens, the chip shots, how they’re going to spread out, all sorts of things. ”