Steve Stricker was on top of the golf world the last time most fans saw him, celebrating a dominant Ryder Cup victory as the team’s captain in September. His life has been a nightmare since.
Stricker detailed to Wisconsin.Golf the mysterious illness that left him hospitalized for 11 days and feeling “lucky to be alive.” Stricker, who plays on the Champions Tour and occasional events on the PGA Tour, told the publication it started with a bad cough and sore throat – and a negative COVID test – in late October, but quickly ballooned into a scarier situation.
“I came home from hunting one night and I was like, ‘I don’t feel good. My side hurts. I just don’t feel right,’ ” the 54-year-old Stricker said. “That night I had the sweats and all of a sudden, my temperature was 103. I went back to my primary and got amoxicillin, a heavier antibiotic. And I think I had a reaction to that. My throat started to close up, my lips got puffy, my glands got puffy, my tongue got puffy. It was like an allergic reaction. I was still having these 103-degree temps.
“So, I went into the hospital about two weeks before Thanksgiving and they kept me in there. That’s when the s–t hit the fan. My liver numbers started getting worse. My white blood cell count was jacked up really high. I was fighting something, but they couldn’t find out what it was. My liver was going downhill. I got jaundice. I was yellow and peeing out Pepsi-colored pee.”
Some two-and-a-half months later, Stricker is still unable to eat solid foods and is on a “no activity” order from doctors. He is dealing with multiple health issues — including inflammation around his heart — and it could be months before he is able to return to a golf course.
“A couple of times I was like, ‘What is going on?’ ” Stricker said of his hospital stay. “Everything is going the wrong way. It wasn’t fun. You don’t know what’s happening. You don’t know where this road is leading to.
“I never thought that I’m not getting out of there kind of thing. But I didn’t eat for two weeks. I didn’t have any energy or appetite to eat. I had a hard time just getting up and walking because of the heart. I took a few steps to the bathroom in my room and I’d be out of breath. I was pretty sick, from what they tell me.”
While his American team cruised to a 19-9 win at Whistling Straits, Stricker said he believes the stress of leading the team still played a role in the illness. The United States squad was under intense pressure as the Europeans had won nine of the previous 12 events in the rivalry.
“I kind of have a feeling that [the Ryder Cup] could have had a part in it,” Stricker said. “It’s a letdown, right, after that happens? And then your immune system is probably down. It probably played a role in it somehow.”
