Steve Stricker 'may live to regret' missing British Open
Former US great Strange says American players should think before skipping the oldest major
World number 18 Steve Stricker may live to regret his decision if he chooses to miss the British Open for the second year in a row, according to former US Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange.
The ultra-consistent Stricker has achieved a high ranking in spite of being a part-time player in recent years.
The 47-year-old American said at this week's Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia he was undecided whether to make the trip across the Atlantic for the third major of the season at Hoylake, which starts on July 17.
I hope [Stricker] and whoever else doesn't come over, doesn't have that regret
Strange, the 1988 and 1989 US Open champion, also snubbed the British Open at times in his career and he now wishes he hadn't.
"Steve is that type of person," said the 59-year-old, from Gleneagles, the Scottish venue for September's Ryder Cup match between holders Europe and the US.
"He loves the game, but is he really in love with the game? There's a difference.
"I don't care how much money you have, how great a family you have, you're a golfer at heart. I'm almost 60 now and I don't play much any more and I tell you something, I miss it."
Strange said he would definitely do things differently if he had his time again.
"I wish I was 35, 40, 45 again," he sighed. "I don't think you want to get to 60 and say to yourself, 'Boy, I wish I would have played more'.
"After all, you're a golfer, what else are you going to do? I didn't go to the British Open a couple of times and I should have. It is my greatest regret and I've always admitted it. I know I should have come over but I didn't."
Stricker has made the cut in all seven of his tournament appearances this season, achieving one top-10 finish and four more in the top-25.
Strange, who now works as an ESPN golf analyst, explained why some Americans choose not to travel to the sport's oldest major championship.
"Official money in the States means a great deal to our careers, to our status on our own tour," said the man who claimed 17 PGA Tour victories in his career and played in the Ryder Cup five times from 1983-95, before captaining the US in 2002.
"We try to make Ryder Cup teams, we try to do this, that and the other, and we need to play in the States to do that. But I hope [Stricker] and whoever else doesn't come over, doesn't have that regret.
"I was playing my best golf one year and I didn't come over and I should have.
"The only thing I hope is that one day when he is in his rocking chair he doesn't say, 'I wish I would've done this or that… that's not a good feeling'."
