Steve Stricker set to return to PGA Tour Champions after months spent battling illness

Steve Stricker is set to make his return to the PGA Tour Champions at next week’s Insperity Invitational.

Stricker, the victorious 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, was hospitalized in November for two weeks with a soaring white blood cell count and inflammation around his heart, causing him to lose 25 pounds. The captain was down to about 160 pounds when he was able to resume swinging a golf club.

He joked last month that he hoped he would be able to swing like Justin Thomas after he lost all that weight.

“I texted Justin Thomas and I’m like ‘Hey, I’m at your weight. If I could only swing it with your speed, I’d be alright,'” Stricker said. “You know, he’s 165 dripping wet and swings it super fast and I’m like, maybe losing 25 pounds, I can swing it that fast. Well, no, it hasn’t worked out to be that.”

Stricker, 55, may not swing it as fast as Thomas, but he has won seven times since joining the PGA Tour Champions in 2017.

It was important for Stricker to get some competitive rounds in before the first major of the season, the Regions Tradition, which will take place May 12-15 at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.