KAPALUA, Maui » Steve Stricker spends his time off in the winter whacking golf balls in a cluster of trailers on the driving range of his home course in icy Madison, Wis. It is about as far from Hawaii as you can imagine.
Once he gets here however — as he has almost every year since 1994 — Stricker just gets it. He is all about Hawaii when he steps off the plane, and so is his family.
After winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions last year, he told a 6-year-old story about his daughter winning a junior title at their home course.
"She won the three-hole tournament," Stricker recalled, "and she’s like, ‘Mom, do we get to go to Hawaii now?’"
Her father always does. Stricker turns 46 next month. Of his 12 wins, all but four have come since 2009. Last year’s win was his fourth straight top-10 finish at Kapalua’s Plantation Course, where the PGA Tour kicks off its 2013 season today.
Before that three-shot victory over Martin Laird, Stricker was zero-for-Hawaii. In 17 starts in the state, he had nine top-10 finishes — six at the Sony Open — and won more than $3 million. His 74 in the final round at Waialae Country Club last year was only the fourth time in 50 rounds he did not break par at Sony.
But he had never actually won.
Now he has and, coincidentally or not, he is planning to cut his playing schedule in half this year. He hopes to play just "10 or 12" tournaments and spend more time with his family and a new foundation dedicated to kids and co-founded with Madison-based American Family Insurance.
He cleared the cutback with his sponsors in November. The low-key Stricker wore black and white shoes, black pants and a white shirt with Titleist, Avis and New York Stock Exchange logos for Thursday’s soggy Pro-Am. He sees his life in black and white as well, now.
"This is a commitment for me to do this from here on out," Stricker said. "You know, I’m not quitting. I don’t want to quit. I still enjoy the game. I still enjoy competing. It’s just time for me to be home a little bit more and maybe focus all my attention to this foundation and do that a little bit more.
"I still plan on playing this year, maybe not the British, but the majors, the World Golf Championships events and I’ll throw in a few other ones here or there to get ready for those. That’s the plan."
The idea is to take the focus off golf — "a pretty selfish sport" — and put it on his wife and daughters. Wife Nicki used to carry his bag. Bobbi Maria is 14 now and interested in becoming a better golfer. Isabella is 6.
Maybe she, too, will join him in the trailers soon. Maybe Stricker can show her how to play in Hawaii. Maybe it will just be a matter of time, the way it was for her father at Kapalua.
"This is a course where a lot of local knowledge helps you out a lot," Stricker said. "The more times you play here, the better off you are."
