Steve Stricker To Return at The Masters

By Billy Dowling | Mar 31, 2015

One of the bigger names on the PGA Tour is ready to make his return. No it’s not Tiger Woods, well not yet at least, but I still have faith that we’ll be hearing about his return sooner rather than later. One of the tour’s sometimes forgotten but lovable players will make his season debut next week at Augusta. After spending the past four months recovering from back surgery Steve Stricker is ready to come back, and will be doing that by taking that drive down Magnolia Lane.

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Since 2013 Stricker has been playing on a limited schedule, but now there was a physical road block holding him back from teeing it up. The last time we saw him was in December at Tiger’s Hero World Challenge before going under a knife to fix a bulging disk in his back. Stricker returned to the course last week and while the back isn’t in perfect shape just yet, it’s still good enough to compete in the season’s first major.

"“I was playing, walking, just to see what I had, ” Stricker told The Associated Press. “It’s the first time I played since December, and it was good. It felt good. Just a little stiffness here and there, I walked the last three days just to play like I would be playing.”"

After picking up at lest one victory from 2009-2012 Stricker has gone winless the past two seasons. He played in 13 tournaments in 2013 and then sliced that to 11 last year and didn’t play in any of the FedEx Cup events for the first time in his career. The reduced schedule has obviously hurt his golf game but at forty-eight years old he has stressed that spending time with family is more important to him right now, and no one can fault him for that.

When it comes to The Masters, Stricker hasn’t exactly lit up the scoreboard with red numbers. He’s finished in the top ten just twice in fourteen attempts. Having never really challenged for a Green Jacket to think he can come into this tournament cold and legitimately have a shot at winning could be a stretch. He thought about dusting the rust off at the Shell Houston Open this week and then later decided to save the extra stress for his back.

"“I think the biggest concern was putting in back-to-back weeks, with the second week being a little more fatigued,” Stricker said. “I still feel it’s a bit early to be pushing it a lot, so I want to take it cautiously.”"

Taking the cautious approach is something that he needs to get out of his system before heading to Augusta. The course that is much more difficult to walk than most people realize and it is certainly a grind on your body. Four days walking among the majestic Georgia Pines can physically exhaust a player. So while it will be good to see Stricker back out there, I’m not expecting much.

One return of an injured golfer down, another one to go and that’s the one that can really shake things up. Stay tuned.

The Associated Press & ESPN contributed to this piece.

Next: Tiger Plays a Practice Round at Augusta?

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