Stricker considered quitting

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The 40-year-old from Wisconsin was rewarded for his perseverance after a course record-equalling seven-under-par 64 rocketed him into second place in the Open at Carnoustie.

"I didn't have the desire I needed to play this game. I was not sure this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. We started a family and things were a bit up in the air," said Stricker, who last tasted victory at the 2001 Accenture World Match Play.

He added: "I don't know what else I would rather do and that is when I came to the conclusion. What else was I capable of doing?

"In 2005 I went back to Tour school and I kept going at the tournaments. I just worked hard at it."

Stricker's highest finish in his five previous Opens was on his debut in 1996 at Royal Lytham when he finished 22nd, however, he went some way towards improving on that record when he carded five birdies in an outward nine of 31 and two more coming home, to equal the course record at Carnoustie.

However, he stressed all he was interested was improving his position in the tournament.

"It was one of those rounds where everything went right. I have spent a lot of time working hard on my putting and I felt it went well," said Stricker, who finished 13th at last month's US Open.

"I have many opportunities and I ended up making quite a lot of them. It was quite a day and quite an experience.

"I had no idea what the course record was; I was just trying to move up the leaderboard as well as I could. Course records are nice but the real deal is the tournament."