Jeff Sluman


Jeffrey George Sluman is an American professional golfer who has won numerous professional golf tournaments including six PGA Tour victories.

Early years

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.

Professional career

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.
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.
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.
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.

Other interests

In his spare time, Sluman can be described as a rabid sports fan. He closely follows the Florida State University Seminoles, the Chicago Bears, the Chicago Bulls, and the Chicago Cubs. He has held Bulls season tickets for over 10 years. Sluman is also 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.

Amateur wins (2)

PGA Tour wins (6)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1Aug 14, 1988PGA Championship−12 3 strokes Paul Azinger
2Feb 23, 1997Tucson Chrysler Classic−13 1 stroke Steve Jones
3Sep 6, 1998Greater Milwaukee Open−19 1 stroke Steve Stricker
4Jan 17, 1999Sony Open in Hawaii−9 2 strokes Davis Love III, Jeff Maggert,
Len Mattiace, Chris Perry,
Tommy Tolles
5Jul 22, 2001B.C. Open−22 Playoff Paul Gow
6Jul 14, 2002Greater Milwaukee Open −23 4 strokes Tim Herron, Steve Lowery

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11987Tournament Players Championship Sandy LyleLost to par on third extra hole
21991Kemper Open Billy AndradeLost to birdie on first extra hole
31992AT&T National Pro-Am Mark O'MearaLost to par on first extra hole
41998FedEx St. Jude Classic Nick PriceLost to birdie on second extra hole
51999MCI Classic Glen Day, Payne StewartDay won with birdie on first extra hole
62001Nissan Open Robert Allenby, Brandel Chamblee,
Toshimitsu Izawa, Dennis Paulson,
Bob Tway
Allenby won with birdie on first extra hole
72001B.C. Open Paul GowWon with birdie on second extra hole

Other wins (5)

Champions Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12009Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf
Bernhard Langer and Tom LehmanLost to par on second extra hole
22010AT&T Championship Rod SpittleLost to par on first extra hole
32014Constellation Senior Players Championship Bernhard LangerLost to birdie on second extra hole

Other senior wins (1)

Japan Golf Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
11996Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters Costantino Rocca, Lee WestwoodWestwood won with par on fourth extra hole
Sluman eliminated by birdie on first hole

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half way cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

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

Results in senior major championships

Results are not in chronological order prior to 2017.
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place