Jeffrey George Sluman (born September 11, 1957) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous professional golf tournaments including six PGA Tour victories.

Jeff Sluman
Personal information
Full nameJeffrey George Sluman
Born (1957-09-11) September 11, 1957 (age 67)
Rochester, New York, U.S.
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight140 lb (64 kg; 10 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceChicago, Illinois, U.S.
Career
CollegeMonroe Community College
Florida State University
Turned professional1980
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins18
Highest ranking24 (October 11, 1992)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour6
European Tour1
PGA Tour Champions6
Other6
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters TournamentT4: 1992
PGA ChampionshipWon: 1988
U.S. Open2nd: 1992
The Open ChampionshipT25: 1990

Early life and amateur career

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Sluman was born and reared in Rochester, New York. After graduating from Greece Arcadia High School in 1975 and Monroe Community College in 1977, he attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. He earned a bachelor's degree with a major in finance from FSU in 1980, and turned pro later that year.[2][3]

Professional career

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Sluman has had an unusual career in terms of winning golf tournaments. During what are usually considered a golfers most productive years – their early twenties through their middle thirties – Sluman won only once. At the age of 30, he won the 1988 PGA Championship. Then, shortly before his 40th birthday, he started winning consistently on the Tour and in non-Tour events. After winning the 1997 Tucson Chrysler Classic, he won seven more events including four on the PGA Tour during the next seven seasons. Sluman's best season was in 2002 when he finished the year ranked 15th on the PGA Tour with $2,250,187 in earnings. Despite his rather unusual sequence in respect to tournament wins, Sluman has been one of the Tour's most consistent top 10 finishers throughout his career; his regular career earnings exceeded 18 million dollars.

The 1988 PGA Championship was played at the Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma. Sluman won the tournament by three strokes over Paul Azinger, shooting a total of 272. On the final day, Sluman took command of the tournament with a round of 65 that tied David Graham's 1979 mark as the lowest winning round in PGA history.[4]

Upon turning 50 in September 2007, Sluman joined the Champions Tour. He won his first tournament in June 2008, the Bank of America Championship and he also won the First Tee Open in 2008, 2009, and 2011.[3]

When Sluman won 1988 PGA Championship, Ping recognized him with a golden putter as a replica of the Ping PAL 2 he used to win. A second one was made and place in the Ping Gold putter vault.[5]

During the first round of the 1992 Masters, Sluman made history when he recorded a hole-in-one on the fourth hole. To date, this is the only time the fourth hole has been aced at the Masters.[6]

Personal life

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Sluman is a fan of Formula One racing, and is friends with former Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal. He is also a collector of rare, fine wines with about 2,000 bottles in his collection.[3]

Amateur wins

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Professional wins (18)

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PGA Tour wins (6)

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Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (5)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Aug 14, 1988 PGA Championship −12 (69-70-68-65=272) 3 strokes   Paul Azinger
2 Feb 23, 1997 Tucson Chrysler Classic −13 (75-68-65-67=275) 1 stroke   Steve Jones
3 Sep 6, 1998 Greater Milwaukee Open −19 (68-66-63-68=265) 1 stroke   Steve Stricker
4 Jan 17, 1999 Sony Open in Hawaii −9 (69-70-66-66=271) 2 strokes   Davis Love III,   Jeff Maggert,
  Len Mattiace,   Chris Perry,
  Tommy Tolles
5 Jul 22, 2001 B.C. Open −22 (67-68-65-66=266) Playoff   Paul Gow
6 Jul 14, 2002 Greater Milwaukee Open (2) −23 (64-66-63-68=261) 4 strokes   Tim Herron,   Steve Lowery

PGA Tour playoff record (1–6)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1987 Tournament Players Championship   Sandy Lyle Lost to par on third extra hole
2 1991 Kemper Open   Billy Andrade Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3 1992 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am   Mark O'Meara Lost to par on first extra hole
4 1998 FedEx St. Jude Classic   Nick Price Lost to birdie on second extra hole
5 1999 MCI Classic   Glen Day,   Payne Stewart Day won with birdie on first extra hole
6 2001 Nissan Open   Robert Allenby,   Brandel Chamblee,
  Toshimitsu Izawa,   Dennis Paulson,
  Bob Tway
Allenby won with birdie on first extra hole
7 2001 B.C. Open   Paul Gow Won with birdie on second extra hole

Tournament Player Series wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 May 5, 1985 Tallahassee Open −17 (65-65-74-65=269) 1 stroke   Kenny Knox,   Gary Player

Other wins (4)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 Aug 3, 1999 CVS Charity Classic
(with   Stuart Appleby)
−20 (63-59=122) 2 strokes   Brett Quigley and   Dana Quigley
2 Jun 24, 2003 CVS Charity Classic (2)
(with   Rocco Mediate)
−22 (63-57=120) 1 stroke   Billy Andrade and   Brad Faxon
3 Nov 16, 2003 Franklin Templeton Shootout
(with   Hank Kuehne)
−23 (65-58-60=193) Playoff   Chad Campbell and   Shaun Micheel,
  Brad Faxon and   Scott McCarron
4 Nov 14, 2004 Franklin Templeton Shootout (2)
(with   Hank Kuehne)
−29 (64-62-61=187) 2 strokes   Steve Flesch and   Justin Leonard

Other playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2003 Franklin Templeton Shootout
(with   Hank Kuehne)
  Chad Campbell and   Shaun Micheel,
  Brad Faxon and   Scott McCarron
Won with birdie on second extra hole

Champions Tour wins (6)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Jun 22, 2008 Bank of America Championship −17 (68-67-64=199) 2 strokes   Loren Roberts
2 Aug 31, 2008 Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach −14 (66-69-67=202) 5 strokes   Craig Stadler,   Fuzzy Zoeller
3 Sep 6, 2009 Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach (2) −10 (65-73-68=206) 2 strokes   Gene Jones
4 Jul 10, 2011 Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach (3) −10 (68-68-60=206) 2 strokes   Brad Bryant,   David Eger,
  Jay Haas
5 Apr 28, 2013 Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf
(with   Brad Faxon)
−23 (62-66-65=193) 1 stroke   Fred Funk and   Mike Goodes,
  Kenny Perry and   Gene Sauers
6 Jun 8, 2014 Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf (2)
(with   Fred Funk)
−20 (61-50-48=159) 1 stroke   Jay Haas and   Peter Jacobsen

Champions Tour playoff record (0–3)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2009 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf
(with   Craig Stadler)
  Bernhard Langer and   Tom Lehman Lost to par on second extra hole
2 2010 AT&T Championship   Rod Spittle Lost to par on first extra hole
3 2014 Constellation Senior Players Championship   Bernhard Langer Lost to birdie on second extra hole

Other senior wins (1)

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Playoff record

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PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 1996 Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters   Costantino Rocca,   Lee Westwood Westwood won with par on fourth extra hole
Sluman eliminated by birdie on first hole

Major championships

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Wins (1)

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Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
1988 PGA Championship 3 shot deficit −12 (69-70-68-65=272) 3 strokes   Paul Azinger

Results timeline

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Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament T45 T8
U.S. Open CUT T62 CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship T30 T14 1 T24
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament T27 T29 T4 T17 T25 T41 CUT T7 CUT T31
U.S. Open T14 CUT 2 T11 T9 T13 T50 T28 T10 CUT
The Open Championship T25 T101 CUT CUT T60 T45
PGA Championship T31 T61 T12 T61 T25 T8 T41 CUT T27 T54
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Masters Tournament 18 T24 44 43 T49
U.S. Open CUT T24 CUT T6 CUT
The Open Championship T60 CUT T41
PGA Championship T41 CUT T23 CUT T62 CUT CUT CUT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 1 3 7 17 15
U.S. Open 0 1 0 1 4 8 19 11
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 6
PGA Championship 1 0 0 1 2 7 22 16
Totals 1 1 0 3 9 23 68 48
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1993 PGA – 1995 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 1986 1987 1988 1989
The Players Championship T40 2 T45 CUT
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Players Championship CUT CUT T40 T46 CUT T49 T41 CUT CUT T46
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
The Players Championship T17 T33 T4 T32 T26 T46 T45 CUT
  Top 10

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

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Match Play R64 R32 R32 R64 R32 R64
Championship T34 NT1 T43
Invitational T39

1Cancelled due to 9/11

  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament

Results in senior major championships

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Results not in chronological order before 2022.

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
The Tradition T31 T11 T29 T12 T7 T8 T9 11 T23 T17 41 T43 NT T29 T50 T63
Senior PGA Championship T9 T5 T21 T18 T44 T47 T15 T7 CUT T59 T19 CUT NT T23 T66
U.S. Senior Open T18 T16 T24 T17 T28 T6 T5 CUT T32 T12 CUT T33 NT T46 T33 CUT CUT
Senior Players Championship T17 T3 T24 4 T6 T43 T16 2 T20 T9 T71 T57 T54 T52 T72
Senior British Open Championship T21 24 T11 T28 T40 T57 T16 T9 T12 T15 T32 T36 NT T57 CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 41 1992 Ending 11 Oct 1992" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  2. ^ "PGA Tour Profile – Jeff Sluman". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "PGA Tour Media Guide – Jeff Sluman". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  4. ^ "USGA/PGA Championships". Oak Tree National. Archived from the original on January 25, 2010. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
  5. ^ "6 fascinating stories from Ping's Gold Putter Vault". PGA Tour. January 10, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  6. ^ Boyette, John. "Holes-in-one part of Masters drama". augusta.com. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
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