It’s been a tough go physically and emotionally in recent months for Steve Stricker, who has yet to play in a tournament on PGA Tour Champions in 2026 and hopes to shake off the rust in time for the tournament he hosts, the American Family Insurance Championship at TPC Wisconsin, in just three weeks.
In addition to trying to get ready physically for the AmFam Championship, Stricker is facing a personal challenge. He and Nicki, his wife of nearly 33 years and his regular caddie for long stretches of his career, have filed for divorce.
“What I’d like to say to start with is the 38 years that Nicki and I had together were amazing,” Stricker said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with Wisconsin.Golf. “We did a lot of cool things and had a lot of great experiences. Sadly, we’ve grown apart and we’re going to go our separate ways. That’s all I really want to say. We’re trying to do this in private and concentrate on our kids and the relationships we have with our kids.”
It’s an especially difficult time, given that the AmFam, played practically in the backyard of the Strickers’ house on Madison’s north side, will be his first competitive rounds of 2026. Nicki Stricker has been a visible and popular presence as her husband’s caddie at the tournament. In addition, she remains vice president of the Steve Stricker American Family Insurance Foundation and has been actively involved in the foundation’s charitable activities, often appearing alongside Steve at events.
Steve Stricker with Nicki as his caddie celebrate their victory in the 2019 U.S. Senior Open.
File photo / USGA, Chris Keane
Pull Quote
“We did a lot of cool things and had a lot of great experiences. Sadly, we’ve grown apart and we’re going to go our separate ways. That’s all I really want to say.”
– Steve Stricker, on his pending divorce with Nicki
The family ties run deep. Nicki is the daughter of TPC Wisconsin owner Dennis Tiziani, Steve’s longtime swing coach. Mario Tiziani, Nicki’s brother, is Steve’s partner in the AmFam, which adopted a two-man team format in 2025. They finished tied for second last year and will be partners again next month. The 54-hole tournament is June 5-7.
In addition, the Strickers’ oldest daughter, Bobbi, played on the women’s golf team at the University of Wisconsin and now plays professionally, and their younger daughter, Izzi, currently is a member of the UW team. Steve and Nicki have attended many of their tournaments, and both girls have caddied in the AmFam.
Stricker, 59, had his right hip replaced on Jan. 9 and hoped to return to competition at the Senior PGA Championship in mid-April, but he was forced to withdraw after “popping” a muscle in the same hip while practicing on March 19. He has not been able to play or practice full shots since.
“It’s the same hip I had replaced,” he said. “I think what happened was, I did a workout and I fatigued those muscles to the point where they failed. I was only hitting 80-yard wedges when I felt a pop in my hip. I thought I did something to the hip joint itself but it was a muscle on the outside of the hip.”
Stricker said he pulled the gluteus medius, a fan-shaped muscle on the outer surface of the pelvis.
“That’s what’s been the problem the last seven weeks,” he said. “I’ve only been chipping for a week but I haven’t hit a ball in seven weeks. It’s on the outside of the hip and I just had to be super careful with that moving forward.
“I’m hoping to start hitting balls at the end of this week. Just wedges. I might have to ease into it and hopefully hit full shots with longer clubs a week or a week and a half later.’
That doesn’t give him much time to get his game ready for the AmFam Championship.
“Yeah, I think it’s a good thing that it’s a partner event,” he said with a laugh.
On a more serious note, Stricker said he was looking forward to returning to competitive golf. The course might serve as a refuge of sorts from all that he is going through personally.
“I just want to get out there and play and start working back toward feeling healthier and stronger,” he said. “Get some things behind me. I’m super excited about playing and looking forward to playing. It’s just been a struggle to get out there.
“It would have been nice to play some tournaments earlier on but I’ll be all right. Like I said, it’s good that I have a partner, and I believe that things are turning around and starting to look up. I’m a little more positive. I have faith that things will be better.”
Stricker won 12 times on the PGA Tour and has won 18 times on PGA Tour Champions, including seven major championships. He won the AmFam Championship in 2023, lost to Ernie Els in a playoff in 2024 and lost in a three-way playoff to Madison’s Jerry Kelly in 2019.
Stricker was the Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the Champions tour player of the year in 2023, after a dominant season in which he won six times, set a single-season money record and won the Charles Schwab Cup.
But he has not played in a tournament since finishing T-4 with Izzi in the PNC Championship in December, and he has not played in a Champions tour event since the 2025 AmFam Championship. He underwent successful disc replacement surgery on his neck two months later to address a nagging issue caused by a bulging disc and bone spur.
“Hopefully, I can get something going and get some practice in where I can have a little game behind me going into AmFam,” he said. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”