John Deere Classic power rankings: Top ten at TPC Deere Run
People don’t typically do what Steve Stricker is doing this year. In just nine PGA TOUR starts in 2017, Stricker has five top-25 finishes. He came back from an opening-round 75 at the Masters Tournament to end in a tie for 16th place. And when his written request to the USGA, asking for a special exemption to the U.S. Open in his home state of Wisconsin, was denied? Stricker went out there, qualified on his own, and did the same thing.
Did I mention that this is all happening in Stricker’s first year on the PGA TOUR Champions, where he has scored four top-tens in five starts? Stricker, at 50, may technically be the young buck out there, but the results don’t lie.
Now he returns to TPC Deere Run, where he won three straight years (2009-2011), and is the event’s all-time leading money winner. Stricker had an off year at the Deere in 2016, finishing tied for 53rd, but when you look at the overall body of work, there’s no better “horse for the course” candidate to choose.