Stephen J. Flesch (born May 23, 1967) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was a four-time winner on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

, and worked briefly as a TV golf analyst for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

and

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply "Golf" or "NBC Golf") is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently ba ...

before joining the PGA Tour Champions.

Early life

Flesch was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, and attended Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky. After graduation, he played golf at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

and turned professional in 1990.

Professional career

Flesch finished in the top ten on the Asia Golf Circuit Order of Merit in 1993, 1994 and 1996. He won the 1997 NIKE Tour Championship to earn a

card for the following season, only the second left-hander to win on what is now the

Korn Ferry Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

. His first win on the PGA Tour was the 2003 HP Classic of New Orleans, but is probably best known for his come-from-behind victory at the 2004 Bank of America Colonial in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. He has been featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings, reaching a career high of 22nd in 2004. Entering the

2008 Masters Tournament The 2008 Masters Tournament was the 72nd Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Trevor Immelman won his first Men's major golf championships, major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Tiger Wo ...

, Flesch was ranked number 107 in the world rankings. After three rounds, he was in third place at eight-under, three strokes behind leader and eventual champion Trevor Immelman. Playing in the penultimate pairing on breezy Sunday, Flesch posted a 78 to finish six strokes back, tied for fifth. This strong showing in a major tournament strengthened his world ranking by 28 slots, improving it to number 79. Flesch last played a full season in 2011, then missed the cut in the 12 events he played during the 2012 season. In 2015, he finished T7 at the Barracuda Championship, his first top ten in four years. In 2015, Flesch became an analyst for

. He also worked as an analyst for

before returning to competition on the PGA Tour Champions in 2017.

Professional wins (13)

PGA Tour wins (4)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (1–1)

Nike Tour wins (1)

Hooters Jordan Tour wins (1)

Other wins (2)

*1991 Kentucky Open *1993 Kentucky Open

PGA Tour Champions wins (4)

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (2004 Masters – 2008 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2008 PGA – 2009 Masters)

Results in The Players Championship

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

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flesch, Steve American male golfers Kentucky Wildcats men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers American golf commentators Korn Ferry Tour graduates Left-handed golfers Golfers from Ohio Covington Catholic High School alumni Sportspeople from Cincinnati 1967 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen