The veteran golf players who are likely to register their first major title win in 2012 – Golf Feature part 2
Continued from: http://www.senore.com/The-veteran-golf-players-who-are-likely-to-register-their-first-major-title-win-in-2012-Golf-Feature-part-1-a138871
Apart from Lee Westwood as the favourite to record his first major title win in 2012, Steve Stricker has similar chances of achieving the same goal this year.
Stricker, after turning professional in 1990, has recorded a total of 20 professional wins.
However, none of them came in the major championships. His best finish came in the 1998 PGA Championship when he stood second on the leaderboard.
For the last two seasons, he failed to improve his position in any of the major championships. However, he successfully recorded two wins each in 2010 and 2011.
Moreover, he had an excellent start to his 2012 campaign with a victory in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which featured only the winners of the 2011 PGA Tour season.
In the four starts that he has made on the PGA Tour this year, he succeeded in recording three top-10 finishes, including his win at the start of the season.
The other two came in the first two World Golf Championships of the year.
This speaks of his great form in the current season and his ability to outclass his opponents in the major events.
Unlike Westwood, he definitely has a chance to win the Masters Tournament next month because of the perfection he has in all fields of the game.
He will be a player to watch at the Augusta National this year and one of the hot favourites to win the title.
He has the attitude, talent and skills to astound his opponents on the course. Moreover, he can turn most of the factors that matter most in the game of golf in his favour.
So far, he seems well set in the current season. His calculated shots and master strokes in the recent tournaments are an evidence of his potential victories in the upcoming events.
His experience and knowledge of the opponents’ playing tactics and techniques make him superior to others.
Apart from his experience, he is one of the very few players who openheartedly accept their mistakes.
Furthermore, he can take criticism positively from his opposition in order to learn something, rather than discarding it straight away.
The only problem that worries Stricker is the neck injury that he suffered last year.
According to the MRI last year, Stricker was confirmed to have a neck injury that sidelined him from playing a few tournaments.
However, he recovered from it early in January and started playing normal golf. However, he has not been able to play the regular schedule as the other players are playing.
He has played only four events in the last three months in order to remain fit to play golf. This hints of a chance of the injury to return any time.
If, God forbid, that happens prior to any of the major events this year, his chances of playing the complete season will be diminished.
Therefore, he needs to have a continuous medical check-up after each and every event he plays to remain fit and active.
Currently, Stricker is the top-ranked United States’ golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings.
For that reason, every American golf fan has an eye set on him, as he is expected to record a major title win and move further on top of the rankings to replace the European players.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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