Erin Walker is the wife of PGA Tour golfer Jimmy Walker. They have been married since 2004 and have two children together. Erin Walker, born Erin Stiegemeier, is an equestrian rider, blogger and social media personality. She told PGATour.com about their relationship, “Jimmy might be the president but I’m the CEO.”
Here’s what you need to know about Erin and Jimmy Walker:
1. Erin & Jimmy Walker Have 2 Sons
Erin has written for a number of golf periodicals, including Golf Digest. She chronicles life on the road as a PGA family in a light, refreshing way. (Twitter)
In 2004, Jimmy Walker was a 3rd-year pro playing on what was then known as the Nationwide Tour and is now the Korn Ferry Tour, a developmental tour for professional golfers hoping to make it to the PGA Tour. At one of the events he and a female volunteer hit it off, according to Sidelines Magazine. That volunteer was Erin Stiegemeier.
The couple began dating and were married in 2005, according to Sidelines Magazine. They now have two sons, Mclain and Beckett.
2. Erin Walker Decided to Put Aside Her Plan of Going to Law School to Become the CEO of ‘Team Walker,’ She Told CNN
Erin Walker told CNN in 2017 she had planned on going to law school but she decided to put that aside after marrying her pro golfer husband, instead becoming the CEO of “Team Walker.”
She and their kids travel on the road with Walker and she puts her time studying journalism, advertising and marketing to use helping him with is career, according to CNN.
CNN wrote, “Among her ‘many hats’ are financial controller, contract reviewer, travel planner, event organizer, sometime swing guru, chief motivator, psychologist, wife and mom.” She added, “I’m the one who runs his ship. I’m doing everything else, just making it as easy on Jimmy as possible so all he has to do is go play golf.”
3. She Is an Accomplished Equestrian Show Jumper
Jimmy Walker isn’t the only athlete in their household. Erin Walker is an accomplished equestrian show jumper. Her love of horses is evident as her Twitter account is full of photos and posts about them.
“I get a tiny bit nervous watching Erin ride,” Jimmy Walker told Sidelines Magazine. “I’m not worried about her getting hurt, just her being satisfied and enjoying what she’s doing. I want her to smile and have a good time doing it. I know she’s competitive and wants to win, but it’s harder for her because her time to practice is more sporadic than other riders. I’m very proud of her.”
According to WRAL, Erin Walker’s father, Mark Steigemeier, was a world freestyle skiing champion and she grew up in Utah skiing competitively.
As of 2017, she told CNN that she was competing in about 15 events around the country in her equestrian career. “It’s hard, I don’t get a lot of practice. I just kind of show up at horse shows and hope it goes it well. Luckily I’m athletic enough but it’s difficult. I want to be better and jump bigger jumps but I have to adjust my expectations,” she told CNN. “But I’m lucky I have a husband who is supportive of it because for me I have to have a hobby and kind of do my own thing a little bit.”
She told Sidelines Magazine, “We should define ourselves not on what we do for a living, but rather who we are as individual. I define myself by being a wife, mother and a competitive equestrian. While it’s difficult at times to balance all facets, I couldn’t do it without knowing I have a partner in Jimmy.”
4. Erin Walker Has Written for Golf Magazines & About Her Life as a PGA Tour Wife
Jimmy and Erin met in 2004 at a Nationwide Tour event. Jimmy was playing and Erin was a volunteer at the tournament. (Twitter)
Erin Walker has written for a number of golf periodicals, including Golf Digest and Golf.com. In 2013, she wrote an article for golf.com saying golfers earn every penny they make as opposed to golf writers, who make too much.
She also chronicled life on the road as a PGA Tour family for Golf Digest. She has a light, humorous approach. Click here to check out her archive on the site.
Erin Walker told WRAL, “I knew when I married Jimmy he would be traveling, I knew when we had kids he would be traveling and I would be a short-time single parent, so I can’t exactly say that’s a negative. But the bigger name you become, the more people want to tear you down, which I just don’t really understand. People have their assumptions and there’s no recourse for what people say.”
5. The Walkers Are Very Much Into Social Media
Jimmy takes his affinity for the earth’s atmosphere to another level on Instagram account. @jimmywalkerpga he has posted several images of space through telescopes. (Twitter)
Erin Walker’s Twitter bio reads, “Professional golf watcher. Amateur show jumper. Married to @jimmywalkerpga. I’m opinionated, he’s not.” She writes about her family’s life on the PGA Tour on the website Tour Wife Travels. She is also on Instagram @tourwifetravels.
Erin Walker wrote on her website, “I am the wife of six time PGA TOUR winner and 2016 PGA Championship winner, Jimmy Walker. Not only am I the wife of a professional athlete, I am a mother of two young boys, a competitive equestrian athlete and a business owner. Tour Wife Travels is a glimpse in to the never-ending traveling circus that is our life.
She added, “Follow along and you will quickly realize why my life motto is #KeepMoving. For more social media, check out Instagram and Twitter: @tourwifetravels.”
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Erin Walker, Jimmy Walker’s Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know