Steve Elkington

Stephen John Elkington (born 8 December 1962) is an Australian professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions. Formerly on the PGA Tour, he spent more than fifty weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 1995 to 1998.^[2] Elkington won a major title at the PGA Championship in 1995,^[3] and is a two-time winner of The Players Championship.^[4][5]

Steve Elkington
Elkington in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Stephen John Elkington
Born	(1962-12-08) 8 December 1962 (age 62) Inverell, New South Wales, Australia
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationality	Australia
Residence	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Houston, Texas, U.S.
Spouse	Lisa Elkington
Children	2
Career
College	University of Houston
Turned professional	1985
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour PGA Tour Champions
Professional wins	17
Highest ranking	3 (20 April 1997)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	10
Asian Tour	1
PGA Tour of Australasia	1
Other	5
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	T3: 1993
PGA Championship	Won: 1995
U.S. Open	T21: 1989, 1990
The Open Championship	T2: 2002
Achievements and awards
Vardon Trophy 1995

Early life and amateur career

In 1962, Elkington was born in Inverell, New South Wales.^[6] He grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.^[7]

Elkington moved to the United States to attend college in Texas at the University of Houston,^[6] where he played on the Cougar golf team that won national titles in 1982, 1984, and 1985.^[8] Elkington was the first prominent Australian to play college golf in the U.S.^[6]

Professional career

Elkington in 2008

In 1985, Elkington turned professional.^[6] Elkington was the runner-up at 1986 PGA Tour Qualifying School to earn his tour card.^[9] He had ten victories on the PGA Tour, all in the 1990s, and won four events twice. Elkington had ten top-10 finishes in major championships, with the best results at the PGA Championship; he won in 1995 at Riviera,^[3] and a tied for second in 2005 at Baltusrol, behind winner Phil Mickelson,^[10][11] which moved him back into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a two-time winner of The Players Championship, the PGA Tour's marquee event, with victories in 1991 and 1997. Of the five to win twice at TPC Sawgrass, his span of six years between wins is the shortest.

In addition to his PGA Tour success, Elkington won the 1992 Australian Open and 1996 Honda Invitational on the Asian Tour.^[12]

Elkington was a participant in the first four editions of the Presidents Cup, on the International Team in 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000. In 1995, he was awarded the Vardon Trophy; this award is given annually by the PGA of America to the tour player with the lowest scoring average.

In June 2006, playing in a sectional to qualify for the U.S. Open, Elkington tried to wear shoes with metal spikes. When his attempt was rebuffed, he left rather than change to soft-spiked shoes, and argued that since spiked shoes were allowed in the U.S. Open, the following week, that they should be allowed at sectional events.^[13]

Elkington's career has been hampered by constant battles with allergies, notably to grass, which caused several absences from tournament play. He has had sinus surgeries, constant infections, and bouts with viral meningitis, as well as searing headaches.^[3]

As of 2013, Elkington had sponsorship/endorsement deals with apparel brand Oxford Golf, Insperity, World Golf Tour, Grieve Family Winery, and Par West Custom Golf Shoes.^[14]

He turned fifty in late 2012 and made his debut on the Champions Tour in June 2013.^[15]

In 2014, RFD-TV began airing The Rural Golfer, starring Elkington.^[16] The production followed Elkington as he toured the United States, digging up golf stories. In 2015, CBS Sports Network began airing the second season of the show, retitled Secret Golf with Steve Elkington.^[17]

Personal life

Elkington met his wife, Lisa, while at the University of Houston, and they have two children.^[18] The family has residences in both Australia and the U.S., at Sydney and Houston. His son Sam played golf on his high school team in Houston,^[19] and played on the golf team at the University of Houston from 2015 to 2020.^[20] His daughter works as a ceramics teacher.

Professional wins (17)

PGA Tour wins (10)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Players Championships (2)
Other PGA Tour (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	22 Apr 1990	KMart Greater Greensboro Open	74-71-71-66=282	−6	2 strokes	Mike Reid, Jeff Sluman
2	31 Mar 1991	The Players Championship	66-70-72-68=276	−12	1 stroke	Fuzzy Zoeller
3	12 Jan 1992	Infiniti Tournament of Champions	69-71-67-72=279	−9	Playoff	Brad Faxon
4	2 Oct 1994	Buick Southern Open	66-66-68=200*	−16	5 strokes	Steve Rintoul
5	8 Jan 1995	Mercedes Championships (2)	69-71-71-67=278	−10	Playoff	Bruce Lietzke
6	13 Aug 1995	PGA Championship	68-67-68-64=267	−17	Playoff	Colin Montgomerie
7	9 Mar 1997	Doral-Ryder Open	70-66-70-69=275	−13	2 strokes	Larry Nelson, Nick Price
8	30 Mar 1997	The Players Championship (2)	66-69-68-69=272	−16	7 strokes	Scott Hoch
9	4 Oct 1998	Buick Challenge (2)	66-70-66-65=267	−21	Playoff	Fred Funk
10	7 Mar 1999	Doral-Ryder Open (2)	72-70-69-64=275	−13	1 stroke	Greg Kraft

*Note: The 1994 Buick Southern Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.

PGA Tour playoff record (4–4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1992	Infiniti Tournament of Champions	Brad Faxon	Won with birdie on first extra hole
2	1992	Buick Open	Brad Faxon, Dan Forsman	Forsman won with par on second extra hole Faxon eliminated by par on first hole
3	1992	H.E.B. Texas Open	Nick Price	Lost to par on second extra hole
4	1993	KMart Greater Greensboro Open	Rocco Mediate	Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
5	1995	Mercedes Championships	Bruce Lietzke	Won with birdie on second extra hole
6	1995	PGA Championship	Colin Montgomerie	Won with birdie on first extra hole
7	1998	Buick Challenge	Fred Funk	Won with par on first extra hole
8	2002	The Open Championship	Stuart Appleby, Ernie Els, Thomas Levet	Els won with par on first extra hole after four-hole aggregate playoff; Els: E (4-3-5-4=16), Levet: E (4-2-5-5=16), Appleby: +1 (4-3-5-5=17), Elkington: +1 (5-3-4-5=17)

Asian PGA Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	5 May 1996	Honda Invitational	71-73-68-69=281	−7	1 stroke	Felix Casas

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

Legend
Flagship events (1)
Other PGA Tour of Australasia (0)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runners-up
1	29 Nov 1992	Australian Open	69-68-69-74=280	−8	2 strokes	Peter McWhinney, Duffy Waldorf

Other wins (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runners-up
1	24 Aug 1993	Fred Meyer Challenge (with Tom Purtzer)	63-63=128	−16	1 stroke	Fred Couples and Davis Love III, Brad Faxon and Rick Fehr, Jim Gallagher Jr. and Bruce Lietzke
2	21 Nov 1993	Franklin Funds Shark Shootout (with Raymond Floyd)	62-64-62=188	−28	1 stroke	Mark Calcavecchia and Brad Faxon, Hale Irwin and Bruce Lietzke, Tom Kite and Davis Love III, Mark O'Meara and Curtis Strange
3	19 Nov 1995	Franklin Templeton Shootout (2) (with Mark Calcavecchia)	64-61-59=184	−32	1 stroke	Chip Beck and Lee Janzen
4	14 Dec 1997	Diners Club Matches (with Jeff Maggert)	2 and 1			Tom Lehman and Duffy Waldorf
5	15 Nov 1998	Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (3) (with Greg Norman)	67-64-58=189	−27	Playoff	John Cook and Peter Jacobsen

Other playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	1998	Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (with Greg Norman)	John Cook and Peter Jacobsen	Won with birdie on third extra hole

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1995	PGA Championship	6 shot deficit	−17 (68-67-68-64=267)	Playoff1	Colin Montgomerie

¹Defeated Montgomerie with birdie on first extra hole.

Results timeline

Tournament	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament				T22	T37	T3	CUT	T5	CUT	T12	30	T11
U.S. Open		T21	T21	T55	CUT	T33		T36	T40	T24	CUT	T51
The Open Championship			CUT	T44	T34	T48	T67	T6	CUT	CUT	WD	CUT
PGA Championship	T31	T41	CUT	T32	T18	T14	T7	1	T3	T45	3

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Masters Tournament	T52			CUT
U.S. Open						T33		CUT
The Open Championship	T60	CUT	T2	WD			CUT
PGA Championship		WD	T48			T2		CUT	T39	CUT	T5	CUT

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half way cut
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	1	2	2	5	11	8
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	0	3	12	9
The Open Championship	0	1	0	1	2	2	15	7
PGA Championship	1	1	2	5	6	8	19	13
Totals	1	2	3	8	10	18	57	37

• Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (twice)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

The Players Championship

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1991	The Players Championship	4 shot deficit	−12 (66-70-72-68=276)	1 stroke	Fuzzy Zoeller
1997	The Players Championship (2)	2 shot lead	−16 (66-69-68-69=272)	7 strokes	Scott Hoch

Results timeline

Tournament	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Players Championship	CUT	T54	CUT	T16	1	CUT	T16	T51	WD	T19	1		T38

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
The Players Championship			T63	CUT	T26	T6		T12	T32	CUT

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Match Play	R64	R64						R64
Championship	T34		NT1				WD
Invitational	39		T23				T49

¹Cancelled due to 9/11

  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
WD = Withdrew
NT = No tournament

Results in senior major championships

Tournament	2013	2014
The Tradition	T19	T9
Senior PGA Championship		WD
Senior Players Championship	T24
U.S. Senior Open	T6	T49
Senior British Open Championship	T11

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
WD = withdrew

Team appearances

• Presidents Cup (International team): 1994, 1996, 1998 (winners), 2000
• World Cup (representing Australia): 1994
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Australia): 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998

See also

• 1986 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
• List of men's major championships winning golfers