Steve Stricker on wife Nicki’s caddie fee: ‘She gets whatever she wants’

Steve Stricker scorched the golf course — and the field — at the U.S. Senior Open over the weekend, shooting 19-under, setting tournament records and winning by six. He also earned $720,000 in the process. But when it comes to paying his caddie, Stricker sounds like he doesn’t have much say in the matter.

Not to worry — it all stays in the family. Stricker’s caddie is his wife, Nicki, who has stood by him for many successes in recent years. She was with him during last week’s disappointing playoff loss, and she was there again on Sunday to help her husband to a blowout win at Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind.

In his winner’s press conference, Stricker was asked how he’d be handling caddie payment, and how it would compare to the Tour-standard 10 percent for winning.

“Well, she gets way more than 10 percent. She gets whatever she wants,” Stricker said jokingly.

Nicki, a former standout golfer herself at the University of Wisconsin, told the Indy Star she felt extra determination after misreading a potential winning putt at No. 18 in Madison last week.

“I’ve never been put in that position before,” she said. “He’s not ever asked me for my help, so yeah, I did take that hard because I was wrong.”

When it came time to lift the winning trophy, Nicki was by her husband’s side. So was Bobbi, the couple’s 20-year-old daughter, a redshirt junior on the Wisconsin team, and Izzi, a 13-year-old rising star.

The @SteveStricker girls asked all the hard-hitting questions (😉) at @amfamchamp.

They even secured an interview with dad. 😂 pic.twitter.com/KhX2QkiI5m

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) June 21, 2019

“We love golf, and we all play it. My wife plays a lot. My daughters are getting into it more and more all the time. And they see the work ethic that I put in and Nicki puts in, too. She works at her game very hard,” Stricker said. “They enjoy being out here. I enjoy having them out here. It brings us all together.”