News
Steve Stricker ‘lucky to be alive’ after spending weeks in hospital with serious illness
Steve Stricker has said he feels “lucky to be alive” after being hospitalized for weeks with a severe illness described as a “mysterious ailment.”
As reported by WisconsinGolf’s Gary D’Amato, Stricker came down with a sore throat and heavy cough on Oct. 23, about a month after captaining the U.S. to victory at the Ryder Cup. The 54-year-old took antibiotics and felt better for a couple of weeks, but then his health issues quickly deteriorated.
Speaking to the publication, Stricker said:
“I came home from hunting one night and I was like, ‘I don’t feel good. My side hurts. I just don’t feel right. That night I had the sweats and all of a sudden, my temperature was 103. I went back to my primary and got amoxicillin, a heavier antibiotic. And I think I had a reaction to that. My throat started to close up, my lips got puffy, my glands got puffy, my tongue got puffy. It was like an allergic reaction. I was still having these 103-degree temps.”
Stricker revealed that his white blood cell count shot up, liver numbers got worse, and he was diagnosed with jaundice.
“So, I went into the hospital about two weeks before Thanksgiving and they kept me in there. That’s when the s— hit the fan. My liver numbers started getting worse. My white blood cell count was jacked up really high. I was fighting something, but they couldn’t find out what it was. My liver was going downhill. I got jaundice. I was yellow and peeing out Pepsi-colored pee.”
Stricker tested negative for COVID and was discharged from the hospital 11 days later, just before Thanksgiving, but he ended up back in the hospital three days later.
“You don’t know where this road is leading to. I never thought that I’m not getting out of there kind of thing. But I didn’t eat for two weeks. I didn’t have any energy or appetite to eat. I had a hard time just getting up and walking because of the heart. I took a few steps to the bathroom in my room and I’d be out of breath.”
The former World Number 2 is back in Florida with his family after being discharged from hospital for a second time at the end of last year. He is currently on several medications and still unable to consume solid food.
“My heart is in rhythm now. It was jumping in and out of rhythm from Thanksgiving all the way to Christmas Eve. So, knock on wood. And I’m on less medication. The inflammation number that they can find out with blood tests is saying that my inflammation is going down. And it must be, because I’m feeling better. I’m walking around a little bit. I’m starting to be a little bit more active and building a tolerance a little bit better. So, things are definitely better.”
Stricker has lost 25lbs in weight while fighting the illness and described his skin as “hanging” as he continues his recovery.
“I’m down 25 pounds. I’m freshman-in-high school weight. I lost all my muscle. I look like an 85-year-old man, dude. My skin is hanging.”
The Wisconsin-native has started to hit a few chip shots at his home in Florida, but per his cardiologist, it may be six months before he can tee it up again on the PGA Tour Champions.
- LIKE205
- LEGIT24
- WOW286
- LOL18
- IDHT8
- FLOP2
- OB1
- SHANK11
GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
- LIKE9
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”
“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”
Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.
According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”
CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.
“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.
Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history
- LIKE18
- LEGIT4
- WOW8
- LOL2
- IDHT1
- FLOP2
- OB2
- SHANK6
Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.
It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.
PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place
The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.
This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.
With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.
360° and in!
A nervy par save by @TaylorPendrith to remain one back as he seeks his first PGA TOUR victory @CJByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/LVFXUSidSg
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024
DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four
It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.
It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.
.@adrianotaegui birdies the 16th to tie the lead at -17 ?#VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/p4tfE5DRJa
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 5, 2024
PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella
Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.
64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.
.@TBalla21 eagles 17, shoots 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the KIA Open. pic.twitter.com/TTOL2LxSdh
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) May 4, 2024
PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win
Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.
The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.
Off the green? No worries for @ScottDu12500063
8-under solo leader @InsperityInvtnl pic.twitter.com/hoj5OujL5C
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 4, 2024
- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
John Daly stuns fans into silence with brutal opening tee shot on PGA Tour Champions
Things got heated at the Houston Open between Tony Finau and Alejandro Tosti. Here’s why
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
Tiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
Report: Tiger Woods has ‘eliminated sex’ in preparation for the 2024 Masters
Two star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
Report: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
Neal Shipley presser ends in awkward fashion after reporter claims Tiger handed him note on 8th fairway
Webb Simpson WITB 2024 (May)
Webb Simpson what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
Keegan Bradley WITB 2024 (May)
Keegan Bradley’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. >14 clubs pictured. Obviously, Bradley will reduce that number to...
Peter Kuest WITB 2024 (May)
Peter Kuest what’s in the bag accurate as of CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (8 degrees)...
Kelly Kraft WITB 2024 (May)
Kelly Kraft’s what’s in the bag accurate as of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. More photos from the event here. ...
-
19th Hole2 weeks agoJustin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole3 weeks agoBrandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why
-
19th Hole2 weeks agoLET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
19th Hole6 days agoGary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Whats in the Bag1 week agoTeam McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
19th Hole11 hours agoReport: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’
-
19th Hole3 weeks agoTaylorMade signs 15-year-old AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year to an NIL contract
Steve B.
Jan 28, 2022 at 6:02 pm
I have no idea of SS had a vaccine reaction or not. But I do know this, and it comes from the experience of selling pharmaceuticals for over 20 years.
After carefully reviewing the vaccine information in 2020, I declined to enter the Moderna trial, based on the information available at the time, which was the survivability rate of 99.7%, the availability of a number of cheap drugs that when used appropriately, adequately address the disease.
With the information now available at the Vaccine Adverse Events Reaction reporting system, I’m glad I did not enter the trial. Since then I had Covid and recovered with Ivermection and Hydroxycholorquine, as have hundreds of thousands of other patients, despite governmental efforts to hinder their use.
If many patients do not have a reaction to these drugs, that is great, but over 20,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of adverse reactions have already been recorded on VAERS which is a passive reporting system. What does that mean? That probably only 1% of all deaths and adverse reactions have been counted as a direct result of the new vaccines. Which is not good because the deaths attributable are more than all other vaccines combined since the records have been kept, since 1990.
So, as a person who follows the real data and science, I would not discount the possibility of an adverse reaction to a great athlete like SS. Dozens of soccer players in Europe have collapsed dead with sudden heart attacks, and my next door neighbor also died suddenly after his 2nd Moderna shot. Of course that is anecdotal, but the other part of the equation is the locking up of data for another 55/75 years, which is highly irregular and very suspicious.
That isn’t conspiracy folks, it’s fact.
Stanley Poopshooters
Feb 18, 2022 at 12:09 pm
I tried an ivermectin enema. Didn’t work. I had a full release.
Joey
Jan 17, 2022 at 1:23 pm
VAX causing an autoimmune response. Not that uncommon. People need to accept the fact that you took a risk out of fear mongering without all the facts. Hate to hear it but accept responsibility and tell the truth about the risks of the vax so people can have a more informed decision of things.
Tyler Durden
Jan 22, 2022 at 2:26 am
You “did your own research” right moron?
Joey
Jan 22, 2022 at 4:19 pm
Not much of an argument there Tyler, sorry.
Luke
Jan 9, 2022 at 8:06 am
Instead of going to the hospital he should have posted his symptoms on the internet so all of the a-hole geniuses could have diagnosed it
Holdin Tudiks
Jan 9, 2022 at 2:03 pm
Chucy the groomer seems to know just about everything. He also has a sign in his front yard signaling all of his virtues, including but not limited to his medical history, his wife’s escapades with the neighbors (while he watched), and which lives matter to “him”. That is the way of a true beta male.
Chucy
Jan 9, 2022 at 10:42 pm
I didn’t speculate on what Stricker’s disease was.
I simply asked, “What was the differential diagnosis?” There’s no hospital record that is ever completed without at least a differential diagnosis, if not a presumptive diagnosis.
Meanwhile, we had these GolfWRX infectious diseases experts:
Manny – “autoimmune hepatitis.”
Mike C – “Lyme disease.”
richie – “Mono.”
Jeff Monik – “Hepatitis.”
I don’t mind their speculation; but let’s just be clear that I wasn’t engaging in their sort of explanation. All I did was ask for a clearer report on the actual differential diagnosis, and a clear, unequivocal statement as to his vaccination status.
I’m tired of all of the weird garbage tossed out by so many of anti-vax athletes. Djokovic. Kirk Cousins. Kyrie Irving. Aaron Rodgers. Carson Wentz. Patrick Reed. Bryson DeChambeau. I hope Stricker is not one of those guys. If he provided any sort of a clear and categorical statement, that alone would set him apart from the foregoing names.
And again, I am not buying any “it’s private” defenses. Stricker has talked in great detail about his hospitalization and illness. He didn’t have to, but he did. My questions about his differential diagnoses and vaccination status are no more intrusive than what he’s already volunteered.
paul mcloughlin
Jan 17, 2022 at 10:35 am
Lime Disease?
Alex Jones
Jan 8, 2022 at 10:10 pm
Take the vax, pay the tax!
joe
Jan 17, 2022 at 11:27 am
post the chit, prove to be a nitwit
Alex Jones
Jan 22, 2022 at 4:18 pm
Sorry that you took an experimental injection pal. Don’t worry, check out the lab results for MRNA shots during the early 90’s on mice! It did wonders for them!
Manny
Jan 7, 2022 at 8:11 pm
White blood cell count and liver numbers both going in the wrong direction, dark colored urine, jaundice, cannot keep solid foods in your system… sounds like what I was suffering from about 3 years ago (well before the China Virus). I was finally diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatiitis.
Anthony
Jan 7, 2022 at 7:26 pm
That’s what happens when our mystery vax ruins your immune system.
Sorry Steve. We have other plans for you. You are not in our club.
Mike
Jan 8, 2022 at 11:53 am
Wow, anti vax nonsense seems to be everywhere , good luck with this crappola.
Antivaxxer
Jan 19, 2022 at 8:56 pm
Let us know how you are in a few years. Lol
Mike Tooktheshotandnowregretsit
Jan 22, 2022 at 4:21 pm
Not an argument Mike.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Jan 7, 2022 at 7:15 pm
Who cares. Someone does every half second in this world.
Mike C
Jan 7, 2022 at 5:34 pm
Sounds more like Lyme disease.
richie
Jan 7, 2022 at 5:29 pm
sounds like mono
John Krug
Jan 7, 2022 at 2:40 pm
Get well Steve.
Jeff Monik
Jan 7, 2022 at 11:58 am
Hepatitis
Clue. Out hunting and not washing him or whoever did the cookin
Jack R
Jan 7, 2022 at 4:19 pm
Yeah hunting def rings alarm bells
Chucy
Jan 7, 2022 at 9:49 am
I recall the hospitalization of Patrick Reed, and the confusing and frankly incredible statements by Reed about how and when he was tested for COVID. Reed never answered the clear and simple questions as to whether he had in fact been vaccinated before that hospitalization, and whether he was treated as a COVID patient during that hospitalization.
So now we have this story with Steve Stricker; the simple questions that are unanswered by this story are (1) was Stricker vaccinated last summer, when he was eligible, and (2) have Stricker’s doctors said what their differential diagnosis was?
Because whether it is Patrick Reed, or Steve Stricker, or any other patient in a US hospital, the diagnosis is never “mysterious disease.”
Dixon Diaz
Jan 7, 2022 at 10:43 am
Or maybe its none of our business, Chuy.
Terry
Jan 7, 2022 at 11:07 am
Sorry to hear about Steve, what A difficult time. I think it is “our business” once the article is published, with quotes from Steve. It’s the price of fame. Yes, what is the diagnosis?
Chucy
Jan 7, 2022 at 7:54 pm
All the ant-vaxxers say, “It’s private.”
But that can’t be true; Stricker is saying all sorts of “private” stuff about his hospitalization. All kinds of private treatment information. Everything he wants to say, that is.
I’m not stating that Stricker has to answer every health care and vaccination question. I am saying, he should be asked. And having been asked more specific relevant questions, after already speaking at length to the details of his hospitalization, Stricker could hardly justify a refusal to answer.
Gagootz
Jan 7, 2022 at 9:34 pm
It’s probably the vax that caused this you meatball.
Livininparadise
Jan 8, 2022 at 7:59 pm
Gagootz, yeah right. Jacka$$
Chucy
Jan 8, 2022 at 8:57 pm
That’s hateful nonsense, Gagootz.
Tyler Durden
Jan 14, 2022 at 8:51 pm
Steve violated “HIPPA” against himself ?
Chucy
Jan 24, 2022 at 12:37 pm
HIPAA, is what it is.
Brooks
Jan 7, 2022 at 12:11 pm
Ya, people aren’t treated with antibiotics for a virus… COVID doesn’t cause jaundice, also, it doesn’t matter what the differential diagnosis was. Someimes a “mysterious disease” does happen, you treat infections and sometimes they get worse then it clears up with the right treatment.
Medicine is called a “practice” for a reason.
Lastly, who cares what they had or did not, not your business.
Doc Brown
Jan 7, 2022 at 7:22 pm
Mystery disease. Only cured by being hooked up to gigawats.
Jay
Jan 7, 2022 at 1:39 pm
Clearly they are hiding the fact that they were vaccinated (both were)…
Chucy
Jan 8, 2022 at 8:49 pm
I’d be very interested in any clear, authoritative statements on exactly when Reed and Stricker were vaccinated.
It’s like the easiest question in the world. “Were you vaccinated, and boosted?” Answering,“Yes,” and some dates.
This story didn’t have that info on Stricker. And the previous reporting on Reed never made it clear either.
Brandon
Jan 7, 2022 at 7:13 pm
Remember all of human history before 2019 when people got sick and went to the hospital for things other than Covid? Those things still exist.
Sisted Twister
Jan 10, 2022 at 2:42 am
Brandon is correct. The comments about this being caused by the vaccine are fake news and absolutely ridiculous. I’ve been vaccinated for many things in my life, including 3 for cov, and none has caused me any harm. Nor hundreds of millions of other people.
Stricker is lucky, though, that he was able to be treated. Anti-vax, anti-mask, anti-smart people are clogging hospitals nation-wide with serious cov illness. Maybe once we reach 1M dead in the US, a few more will take it seriously?
Bob Pegram
Jan 10, 2022 at 3:18 pm
The Covid shots AREN’T vaccines! They are gene changers.They could have screwed up his system so bad that he became suseptible to something he had previously had no problem with. Did that happen? Who knows. The “vaccine” can cause all sorts of weird reactions depending on a person’s inherent weaknesses. It could be unrelated to the Covid shots. We are not given enough info to know. The comments by others who have had hepatitis with similar symptoms sound relevant at first glance. Could the shots have aggravated a pre-existing systemic weakness he had? Again, who knows?
Herman Cain
Jan 18, 2022 at 10:03 am
Yes, who knows? Clearly you don’t know, so stop spreading false information about things you are completely ignorant about.
Chucy
Jan 24, 2022 at 12:41 pm
I don’t care what sort of public forum it might be; social media, a message board, a comments page…
A comment like the one you posted should not go without being challenged and called out as a lie. Dangerous misinformation which harms public health.
ClubFoot
Feb 18, 2022 at 12:12 pm
Yep. After the 2nd Moderna I had to change my jeans 4 times. Just can’t clench my butt like I used too.
This here injection is definitely jean changer.
Jerome
Jan 10, 2022 at 5:00 pm
It is funny how you belittle those who do actual research.
Dave
Jan 12, 2022 at 8:25 am
Agreed…….dude is brainwashed
Tyler Durden
Jan 14, 2022 at 8:53 pm
Going on the internet while you take a dump is not “doing your oe\wn research”
Stefan Molyneux
Jan 22, 2022 at 4:24 pm
Tyler, not an argument.