Steve and Edie made it work. So did Burns and Allen. Bonnie and Clyde. Ike and Tina. OK, maybe not Ike and Tina.

You can add Stricker and Stricker to the list of successful husband-wife teams. The golfer-caddie, husband-wife partnership has worked wonders for Steve Stricker so far this week at the 65th Masters Tournament.

Stricker and wife, Nicki, hope they can keep the magic alive until Sunday.

With his wife toting his bag for his fifth trip to the Masters, Stricker, 34, turned in another solid performance in Friday's second round. He shot a 1-under-par 71 to move to 7-under-par for the tournament, two strokes behind surprise leader Chris DiMarco in a tie for third place.

Afterward, Stricker spoke of Nicki's role this week, and the calming effect she seems to have on him.

``It's just nice having her out there, just because we get along so well,'' Stricker said. ``We talk about other things going down the fairway. It's not necessarily grinding over the next shot right after you hit the last one. So it's nice having her out there.''

While Nicki rarely offers advice on things like club selection or lining up putts, Stricker knows he can depend on her to provide something no other caddie could pull off.

``The one thing she's really good at is she's able to kick me in the butt when I start talking negatively or poorly about the round or my shot or my swing,'' Stricker said. ``No other caddie can lay into me like that and not be afraid for their job.''

For Nicki, a former college golfer, there is great satisfaction this week in seeing the fruits of her husband's labor paying dividends.

After he won the season-opening World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in January, Stricker has been mired in a funk, plagued by problems off the tee that he has battled for most of his career.

Stricker missed the cut at the Buick Invitational in early February and continued to struggle in his next four starts. His best finish since Phoenix was a tie for 34th at Doral, and he missed the cut at The Players Championship two weeks ago.

``It is very satisfying,'' she said. ``He's worked so hard. The last week and a half is as hard as he's worked in the last four years, to be truthful. So it is cool to see good things happening for him this week.''

After several years of caddying on a full-time basis, Nicki took time off last year after the birth of daughter Bobbi, the couple's first child. She has been back on the job since the Phoenix Open in late January.

Now, with little Bobbi along for the ride on the PGA Tour each week, Team Stricker no doubt thrives on being a tight-knit family.

Nicki's father, former University of Wisconsin coach Dennis Tiziani, is Stricker's personal swing guru. And between both Nicki's mother and Stricker's parents, there is plenty of baby-sitting help while they are on the course.

``That is a big part of why I'm back out here, because it keeps us all together,'' Nicki said. ``It also works well because I think I'm able to get him going back in the right direction and focused. From my perspective, I try to help make him realize he can do this, no matter who's on his bag.''

One of the highlights of the week for both came on the 18th green on Friday. Stricker's playing partner, two-time Masters champion Seve Ballesteros, offered Nicki some advice and kind words to take them into the weekend.

``Seve told her some nice things to pass along to me,'' said Stricker, whose best Masters finish was a tie for 19th last year. ``He said if I just hang in there and keep playing the way I've been playing, I've got a chance to win this thing. And he said `I think he can do it,' so that's pretty nice, I think.''

``Just to hear the nice things that he said, and coming from him, showed me a lot about him,'' Nicki said. ``It was really cool.''