Born June 8, 1961 in Roseboro, NC, Earl Strickland has become one of the most accomplished pool players in the sport's history. "The Pearl" started playing pool at age 9 and entered his first professional event at age 15.
He soon became a dominant force on the table with his first win in 1983 at Caesar's Lake Tahoe 9-Ball event. Quickly he began to rack up an impressive resume of first place finishes, including 5 world championship titles (1990 WPA World Pool Champion, 1990 WPA World 9-Ball Champion, 1991 WPA World 9-Ball Champion, 1994 PBT World 9-Ball Champion, and 2002 WPA World 9-Ball Champion); an unprecendented and record holding 5 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship wins (1984, 1987, 1993, 1997, and 2002); 16 PBA titles; and 3 PBT titles.
Strickland is the only player to win the WPA World 9-Ball Championship two consecutive years.
Some of "the Pearl's" career highlights include the famous 11 break and run in 9-Ball for a $1,000,000.00 bonus against Nick Mannino at the inaugural PCA event in 1996. Always fearless, tenacious and determined, Strickland has been a member of the U.S. Mosconi Cup team an astounding 13 times.
A controversial person, but alway a strong proponent for the game, "the Pearl" is a welcome addition to Team CSI - American Grand Masters. He exemplifies the meaning of Grand Master and is highly dedicated to assisting players to better their game.
To cap off an amazing career, Strickland was inducted into the Billiard Congress of American Hall of Fame in 2006 and was voted #6 in the 2007 top 20 Fan Favorite Players List in Pool & Billiard Magazine.