LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Steve Stricker, the defending PGA Senior Championship winner, has withdrawn from this year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla, tournament officials said Sunday.
Stricker, 57, had questioned whether he would have the stamina to compete in the PGA Championship after competing this week in the Regions Tradition Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. A two-time defending champion there, Stricker took the lead into the weekend and rests in fourth place heading into the final day.
He’ll be replaced in the PGA field by Alex Smalley, a second-year tour pro from Greensboro, N.C. Smalley is playing in the Myrtle Beach Classic and is tied for seventh heading into the final round.
Stricker’s best finish in A PGA Championship was a tie for second in 1998. He’d played in all three previous Championships at Valhalla, finishing tied for 26th in 1996, missing the cut in 2000 and tying for seventh place in 2014.
It’s expected he’ll rest up to defend his Senior PGA Championship on May 23-26, just a week after the PGA Championship at Valhalla.
“I'd love to be there because it is a big event, but it's a big course,” Stricker told reporters earlier this week. “I'm tired. I'm old. You know, I know where my place is."
Stricker‘s invitation to Valhalla came via his win in last year’s Senior PGA Championship, one of six tour wins for Stricker last year. He’d played so well on the Champions Tour that more PGA events had been contemplated in 2024.
Smalley will be playing in his third major, and tied for 23rd in last year’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in New York.
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