Steve Stricker walked into the Sony Open in Hawaii media room, kids and wife in tow, looking like a bedraggled dad on a Hawaiian vacation.

Never mind he had just completed his sixth round of 2010 in nine days on two Hawaii golf courses as different as Obama and Bush. It was his 3-year-old's inability to get to sleep that had him thinking that part of yesterday afternoon would be spent taking a nap under the nearest coconut tree.

After a slow start to his season at last week's SBS Championship on Maui, Stricker shot 68 on Saturday and 66 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 10th in the winners-only event. He came back with a 66 on Thursday and a 67 yesterday to sit comfortably in a tie for fifth, two shots off the pace at 7-under 133.

“;I didn't sleep too well because of that 3-year-old back there last night,”; Stricker said to his youngest daughter, Nicole, who had a big smile on her face as she ran happily around the room. “;She was coughing and up in the middle of the night. Yes, you, you didn't sleep well. It will be nice to get some rest this afternoon.”;

With Tiger Woods still sitting this one out and Phil Mickelson a couple of weeks away from removing his head covers, Stricker is suddenly the best thing going on the PGA Tour.

The world's No. 3-ranked player won almost as many times last year (three) as he did in his previous 15 tours of duty (four). He was victorious twice in 1996, but didn't win again until an Accenture Match Play Championships title in 2001.

It would be another long six seasons before he captured The Barclays in 2007, two winless droughts that are tough to explain given the 42-year-old's innate abilities on a golf course. In 2009, Stricker won three times and finished second twice and third once to earn $6.33 million.

He was third in the FedEx Cup point chase and went 4-0 in the Presidents Cup with Woods as his playing partner, pretty heady stuff for the man from Edgerton, Wis. Because his golf game has left him several times at the drop of a golf hat, he never takes anything for granted and believes confidence is king on the course.

“;Golf is a game of cycles,”; Stricker said last week. “;I'm a testament to that. There are up years and there are down years. It's just the nature of the game. I expect a lot (from myself), keep it rolling. I feel like I haven't really lost a beat. I feel like I'm still doing the same things that I ended the year on. I gained a lot of confidence again from last year.”;

You won't get any arguments from his playing partners in the island chain. Over his last 72 holes, Stricker is a cool 19 under and right in contention this week. Going into today's third round, he trails 36-hole leader Ryan Palmer by two. If he can keep his golf ball in the fairway, get aggressive when he needs to and be patient at just the right moments, he has a shot at winning his eighth tour event.

“;It was a good solid day,”; Stricker said. “;No bogeys is always a good thing. You can't be very aggressive here. It's a course where you have to play position golf. You have to get it in the fairway off the tee. I think that's a premium this week because if you start missing the fairways and trying to hit out of the rough, it becomes very difficult to get the ball close to the pin. Being conservative around here, I think, is a good thing.”;