Gary Van Sickle, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, joined the staff in 1996 and covers golf for the magazine and SI's Golf Plus section.

Before arriving at SI, Van Sickle spent more than seven years covering the PGA Tour as a senior writer for Golf World magazine. He was a sports writer and columnist at The Milwaukee Journal for the 13 years before that, writing about a variety of sports including golf, Big Ten football and basketball, and the Green Bay Packers.

Among Van Sickle's writing awards are the 1983 Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year; UPI's 1984 Best Sportswriter (Wisconsin); Best Sports Story of 1988 by the Milwaukee Press Club; several entries in Best Sports Stories; and a number of Golf Writers Association of America awards.

A 1976 graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a B.A. in journalism, Van Sickle was born in Midland, Mich., and lived in Texas and Ohio before graduating from high school in Waupaca, Wis. An avid golfer, his handicap occasionally dips below 2. He was the men's club champion at the Yale Golf Club in 1993. He advanced through local U.S. Open qualifying in 1995 and played in sectional qualifying in Columbus, Ohio, paired with tour players Larry Mize and Tom Purtzer, and just missed making the Open ... by 17 strokes. Van Sickle tied for 18th in the 1999 Pennsylvania Amateur held at Treesdale Golf & Country Club, his home course, and his second-round 72 was the low score of the day. Despite posting a career-low 62 in 1999, he is not going to give you strokes. He has also made seven holes-in-one.

He lives with his wife and son in Wexford, Pa., just outside Pittsburgh.

April 2002