MADISON, Wis. — Ernie Els got him again.
Steve Stricker and Els have gone head-to-head for nearly three decades, and they’ve had a match-play history dating back that long also. On three occasions, Els bested Stricker 1-on-1 and once more in a team format.
And though the American Insurance Family Championship is a stroke-play event, the 2024 tournament came down to a duel between the friends over the back nine Sunday at University Ridge Golf Course and Els eventually erased a four-shot deficit over the final seven holes to force a playoff.
Then, Stricker admittedly rushed himself over a short par putt to extend the tournament. It lipped out and Els was abruptly the tournament champion.
After a par from Ernie and a miss from Steve Stricker, @TheBig_Easy claims another win. pic.twitter.com/JQqyTYKWZt
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) June 9, 2024
“He feels bad winning like that and I feel bad giving it to him like that, but he played well,” Stricker said. “He strung together I think three birdies on that back side when he had to and he kind of answered the call when he had to because I had a three- or four-shot lead and kind of just let it slip away.”
When he learned of their final round pairing on Saturday, Stricker had mentioned how Els chased him down in the 1996 World Match Play Championship, as Els made seven birdies over the final 16 holes to erase a six-shot deficit. And he acknowledged he felt that again at University Ridge Golf Course.
“I thought about it again today, I’m like here we go again,” Stricker said. “It’s like I had him down and that was the times, especially like on 13, 14, 15, 16 where I could have kind of closed the door. That’s what I should have done and I just didn’t do it. I didn’t hit it in there close enough, didn’t make the putts and hats off to him, he did.”
Els had also bested Stricker in head-to-head competition at the 2009 World Golf Championship Match Play and the 2013 Presidents Cup.
“I wanted to stay close to him because I knew Steve was going to be the guy,” Els said. “He’s such a classy player. But I got so angry with myself bogeying (the sixth hole), the par 5, and then bogeying seven, which is such a soft bogey, and then not birdieing nine, then my putts started slipping by the hole. I was a little frustrated, but somehow I kept hitting good shots and then started making putts. Then it became a two-horse race from back nine on 12, 13.
“Then we kind of, you know, hung in there, made birdies on the same holes and had a first playoff hole. It was basically the guy that made the first big mistake was going to lose.”
Two in a row for Els
It is the second consecutive tournament title for Els, who now has five times on the PGA Tour Champions.
Stricker was kicking himself for letting the tournament end the way it did as his par-saving putt on the 18th unexpectedly stayed out of the cup.
“I was like you guys, I was in shock,” Els said of the sudden end. “He’s the best putter we have probably in the world and as I said, conditions were tough. The short putts when that gust comes, it throws you off a little bit, so it can happen to the best of us.”
Earlier in the afternoon, it looked as if Stricker was about to become the tournament’s first back-to-back champion. He made a nervy par on the fourth hole with a tough up-and-down from behind the green, and it was Els who blinked first with bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes to fall two behind.
Stricker then gave himself some breathing room with a birdie on the par-3 eighth to get to 11-under and a three-shot advantage. He pushed it to a four-shot lead after another birdie on the par-5 11th.
Els would recover, though, rattling off three consecutive birdies on holes 12-14. His long birdie putt on the par-4, 14th followed a Stricker bogey after he missed the green and made bogey, and the four shot advantage was wholly erased.
“Unfortunate to give it away like that, but all in all it was a good week,” Stricker said. “Got right in there, had some opportunities on that back side that I bogeyed 14 I think it was with a wedge in my hand, and 13, didn’t even have a really good look at it. So I had some wedges in my hands, too, that I really should have capitalized on and didn’t. Did some good things, but thinking back, a few things that I could have done better with.”
It is the second playoff loss in the tournament for host Stricker, who lost to Jerry Kelly in a three-man playoff that included Retief Goosen in 2019.
Els and Stricker started the day tied at 9-under, and playing David Duval began the round two shots back. He finished with a 2-over 74 however, to finish his tournament at 5 under and tied for 14th.
Cameron Percy finished at 9 under for the tournament and finished third. Thomas Bjørn, Stephen Ames and Doug Barron tied for fourth at 8 under.
Skip Kendall closes strong, Jerry Kelly battles on
Fox Point native Skip Kendall, making his first PGA Tour Champions start of the year and playing in just his second tournament of the year, finished with a 2-under 70 to claim a tie for 19thplace at 4-under. Kendall now primarily teaches out of golf schools in Orlando and Palm Coast, Florida.
“Honestly, for not playing, you know, I feel like I can still compete out here,” said Kendall, who will be doing some teaching in Milwaukee this coming week. “I did leave some out there. I know if I was playing week in, week out, maybe that wouldn’t have happened. Maybe it would have, maybe it wouldn’t, but I don’t think it would have. It’s a nice feeling knowing that I still can compete with these guys and it’s a great week to come out and see everyone, honestly. I mean, Steve gets a great field here and I owe him a lot for always having me come back here and play. Always helps me out.”
Kelly, who disclosed earlier in the week that he is undergoing treatment for rheumatoid arthritis while playing this season, struggled home with a 5-over 77 final round.
The two-time tournament champion (2019, 2021) began the day three shots back of Stricker and Els, and while he acknowledged his body didn’t quite feel right the first two days he felt a low number was in him. He hoped he could find it Sunday, but he bogeyed the opening hole and fell 5-shots back in short order.
Kelly finished the tournament at 1 under, tied for 38th.
University of Wisconsin alumnus Mario Tiziani closed an even-par 72 to finish 1 under and tied for 38th. He will compete in the U.S. Senior Open June 27-30 in Newport, Rhode Island.
Fox Point’s Michael Crowley, the head PGA pro at Morningstar Golfers Club in Waukesha, shot his best round of the tournament with a 1-over 73. This was his first PGA Tour Champions appearance, and he finished 71st at 7 over.