Ready or Not, Stricker Back for Colonial

Steve Stricker is not certain his appearance in this week's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial is the smartest thing. A shoulder injury has had the world's No. 4 ranked player on the shelf for the past six weeks -- since the Masters in early April -- and as recently as late last week he was still hurting.

"It just felt rotten," he said. "But I got some medication in me, and the greatest thing about medication, it heals you fast, I guess."

Or it could just be the mystic powers that come from being the defending champ.

"Well, I kind of wanted to give it one more week, but doing what I did here last year, and being the defending champion, I felt somewhat of an obligation to be back," Stricker said. "And I wanted to start playing again. If I hadn't won here, it might have been another week."

But Stricker did win at Colonial last year. He rolled in a short birdie putt on the second hole of a three-way playoff with Tim Clark and Steve Marino for his first PGA Tour win in almost two years. With the bothersome dry spell broken, Stricker went on to finish 2009 with three victories and bagged another early this season. During the time he climbed all the way to No. 2 in the world rankings.

So, yeah, this week is important.

"My game is rusty to say the least, but it's great to be out here," he said. "Yes, it brings back a lot of fond memories -- kind of where my year really got off to a great start. From here on forward is where I really played some good golf."

The question Stricker faces is whether he can do it again. His shoulder pain is the result of inflammation in the sternoclavicular (SC) joint, a connection from the breastbone to the collarbone. He has seen an orthopedist surgeon and X-rays showed no structural damage, so rest and physical therapy were prescribed.

"At first I'm like, hey, this isn't going to be too bad," he said. "I can spend some time at home and be with the family and the kids. Everybody knows I like being at home."

He also likes winning golf, and with the U.S. Open in three weeks, he was going to have to get moving sometime. So the defending champ is back for Colonial.

The challenge will be a stiff one. Colonial is one of golf's classic old courses. It's tight and demands creativity and patience. It's the longest running event on the PGA Tour still being held at the original tournament site -- since 1946. It's where Ben Hogan won five times, resulting in the tag "Hogan's Alley." Other past tournament champions include the likes of Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw and Mickelson.

This year's field will feature five of the world's top 10: No. 2 Phil Mickelson, No. 5 Jim Furyk, No. 6 Ian Poulter and No. 8 Paul Casey in addition to Stricker. All four reigning major champions are also on hand.

"Every tournament where you get a really good field, you can feel it," Marino, last year's co-runner-up said. "There is a little bit more buzz. And you know, I'm not surprised that a lot of top guys are coming here to play this week because this is a great old golf course."

It is enough to make Stricker wonder about his logic. After hitting balls Tuesday at Colonial, he admitted it was the first time in six weeks he'd been on a practice range.

"My game needs to come a long ways," Stricker said. "But you never know. You get underneath the gun and you can turn it up a notch sometimes.

"I won't try to overdo it. I will try to come back and do it sensibly and cautiously and just try to get my game going that way."

At least he's back. It's a start.