Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker is recovering from a health scare that featured a soaring white blood cell count and inflammation around his heart, which hospitalized him for two weeks and caused him to lose 25 pounds, according to reports last week.
Stricker, 54, has been cleared to travel with his family to Florida but his cardiologist told him it could be six months before he can compete again, the reports said.
“I’m still on no activity,” Stricker said in a story on the Wisconsin.Golf website that was dated Jan. 6. “I’m still dealing with inflammation around the heart. That part is getting better, though, all the time.
“They took an MRI right before Christmas and it was still there, this inflammation, but it’s going down. I’ll have another MRI on (Jan. 20). If it’s gone, then I can start to do things.”
A month after captaining the United States to a Ryder Cup victory at Whistling Straits in his native Wisconsin, Stricker fell ill. He said he received a negative result after a test for COVID-19. And in December he withdrew from the QBE Shootout with what a PGA Tour news release termed a “nagging, non-COVID-related virus.”
At this point in his ordeal, Stricker told Wisconsin.Golf that he feels “lucky,” and that his situation is now moving in a positive direction.
“My heart is in rhythm now,” he said. “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 … blood tests (are) 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.”
Former Australian PGA champion Bob Shearer died Sunday at age 73 after a heart attack, Golf Australia reported.
The native of Melbourne totaled 27 professional wins, including the 1982 Australian Open, when he topped Jack Nicklaus and Payne Stewart by four strokes at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney. His victory at the Australian PGA Championship came a year later at Royal Melbourne.
Shearer also won twice on the European Tour and once on the PGA Tour (at the Tallahassee Open in 1982).
“Bob was a giant of the game here in Australia in the ’70s and ’80s and I am just absolutely devastated that I have lost another of my great mates,” said Rodger Davis, chairman of the PGA of Australia.
The Metropolitan Golf Association in the New York area announced just before Christmas the establishment of the Farrell, a new tournament that will be conducted in partnership with Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The tournament, a “high-level invitational for male and female golfers on a national basis,” is scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 2. It will be a points-eligible event for MGA Player of the Year standings, as well as a World Amateur Golf Ranking counting event.
The tournament was established to honor Billy Farrell, a former PGA Tour player and the first head professional at Stanwich, who held the position from 1964 to 2000. Farrell died last May at age 85.
“We are thrilled to bring this championship to life and welcome the best competitors from around the country to Stanwich,” said club president David Lehn. “Billy Farrell left a remarkable impact on the club, and he would be proud that his legacy is being shared with a new generation of great golfers.”
TAP-INS
The European Tour Group appointed Paul Lawrie to its board as a non-executive director (READ MORE). … Patrick Reed, Tony Finau and Cameron Smith added their names to the field in the Saudi International, Feb. 3-6 at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City (READ MORE). … The Asian Tour announced a partnership with the developmental Mena Tour (READ MORE). … Golf entertainment outlet PopStroke, co-owned by Tiger Woods, announced the hiring of Kenneth R. Kennerly and Shane Robichaud to run two subsidiary companies (READ MORE).
Staff and Wire Reports