Steve Stricker was born on February 23, 1967, in Edgerton Wisconsin. He is currently the No. 2 golfer in the world (right behind Tiger Woods) and has cataloged an impressive career ever since he turned professional. He graduated from The University of Illinois in 1990 and turned pro soon after that. He started his career on the Canadian Professional Golf tour and won two different tournaments before moving on over to the PGA tour.

Stricker started his PGA Tour run in 1994 and came away with his first big wins in 1996 when he won the Kemper Open and the Motorola Western Open. That year he ended up being fourth on the PGA Tour money list. By the time 1998 rolled around, Steve went into the final round of the PGA Championship in Washington but ended up losing out to Vijay Singh after Singh pulled it together on the back nine holes. This is the closest that Stricker has come to winning a major in his career.

In 1999, Steve Stricker finished in fifth place at the U.S. Open that was played in Pinehurst. He has frequently made it inside the top 20 at the U.S. Open but has failed to seal himself a victory at that event. Stricker didn't win another big match until 2001 when he beat out Pierre Fulke in Australia for the WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship. The prize money from that match alone was worth $1 million.

After that big win in Australia, Stricker went into an era of mediocrity in about 2004. His form was off and it was apparent that he was not in the same golfing form that he used to be in. However, in 2006 he started to pull it back together again and became the PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year. He then went on to win at The Barclays in 2007 and continued to improve his form. That year he was also ranked within the top five on the Official World Golf Rankings.

In 2009, Stricker won at the Crowne Plaza Invitational and also again at the John Deere Classic. The John Deere Classic was an especially impressive win because of the rainy conditions and his great shooting. Also in 2009, Stricker won the Deutsche Bank Championship with a birdie on the final hole. This was a convincing moment in Steve Stricker's career. He ousted Tiger Woods off of the FedEx Cup Standings and solidified his spot as number two in the world.

Most recently Stricker won the 2010 Northern Trust Open in February after beating out Phil Mickelson. He looks to continue his domination this year even with the return of Tiger Woods after his big scandal. The return of Tiger Woods will definitely make this golf season more interesting for Stricker, and he will be able to try and prove himself against the number one golfer in the world. Stricker continues to work hard on his golf game and improve every year and his career stats are a testament to his hard work and natural talent.