Brilliant overtime escape sees Steve Stricker claim three-peat at Sanford International

Winning, at any level of golf, is something usually attained with a high degree of difficulty. Sunday, trying to win proved an arduous task not only for a man chasing his first trophy on PGA TOUR Champions, but for another tested competitor who has made collecting championships a personal habit.

Steve Stricker edged Australia’s Richard Green on the fourth playoff hole Sunday at South Dakota’s Minnehaha Country Club to win his fourth Sanford International title– and third consecutive. The victory came courtesy of a brilliant escape from the rough on his fourth trip down 18 (one in regulation, three in the playoff), a 386-yard par 4 that was the playing ground for three of the four playoff holes.

After hooking his tee ball into the left rough, and with Green sitting just 71 yards from the flag after blistering a drive, Stricker showed some old-fashioned, veteran savvy with a recovery (gap wedge) that pitched short, ran up the long green, and clanked off the flagstick, coming to rest 3 feet from the hole.

Green putted first, but his downhill, 10-foot birdie attempt drifted off to the left. A competitor can give Stricker, 57, only so many chances on the greens. Faced with an opportunity to convert to win, Stricker’s short putt for birdie was dead-center perfect. When the putt vanished, so had Stricker’s surprising winless season.

Stricker (closing 3-under 67) and Green (69), who had forged into the lead alone earlier in the day, tied at 8-under 202 through regulation. Ernie Els, leader in the Charles Schwab Cup points race, and Bernhard Langer, who equaled his age (67) – again – on Sunday, each shot 3-under 67 to tie for third, one shot out of the playoff. Tying for fifth were Steven Alker, the tour’s top player in 2022, and rookie Michael Wright of Australia, a 2023 Q-School graduate who posted his best finish in his 18th start.

Stricker usually shows a good deal of emotion after winning. This time, he dedicated his win to his late father, Bob, whom he lost in January, and for whom he was trying so hard to win again. Stricker’s prevailing emotion on Sunday seemed to be relief.

“I kind of limped it in there on the last hole (of regulation) but I knew I had a couple of shots to play with,” Stricker told Golf Channel after the victory. “It was a battle. Always on these Sundays, trying to win a golf tournament is a battle. Not only your emotions, the game, everything. Just trying to get it done. But it’s so rewarding when you do.”

Stricker appeared to have sealed victory when he ran off four birdies in the middle of his round (hole Nos. 7-15). He also knocked down a clutch 12-footer to save par at 17, where he tugged a tee shot left but got up-and-down. He walked to 18 with a two-shot lead over Green, whose chance at victory appeared to have vanished following back-to-back bogeys at 13 and 14.

The winless season had been a struggle for Stricker, and winning would not be something given to him. He missed a par from 6 feet that would have delivered the win in regulation. Green, now one back, needed birdie to force a playoff, and he showed something by producing one.

It was Stricker’s first victory of the season in his 12th start, and came on the one-year anniversary of the last title he collected in Sioux Falls. Stricker becomes the fourth golfer to win a Champions title at least three consecutive years (Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin and Langer are the others) and also became the first player to three-peat both on the PGA TOUR (John Deere Classic, 2009-11) and PGA TOUR Champions.

Stricker made 18th green trophy speeches the norm a year ago, winning six times in his 16 starts, three of them senior majors. When he wasn’t winning, he never seemed very far away, finishing runner-up five times. He ran his overall victory title on PGA TOUR Champions to 17.

No. 18 took some patience.

“Yeah, this is very special,” Stricker said. “I’ve been trying to win one all year for my dad that we lost in January, and I just haven’t been able to get it done. So, to do it here, to get a three-peat, Andy North (Stricker’s tournament ambassador and fellow Wisconsin neighbor) being the host, this place is special to me.

“I feel like this is a home field, home-course advantage for me with all the support I get ... It’s a sweet, sweet spot for me, and a special win.”