Jeffrey George Sluman (born September 11, 1957) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous professional golf tournaments including six PGA Tour victories and one major.
Early life and amateur career 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.
Personal life 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.
Amateur wins 1978 New York State Amateur 1980 Monroe Invitational
Professional wins (18)
PGA Tour wins (6) LegendMajor championships (1)Other PGA Tour (5) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Aug 14, 1988PGA Championship−12 (69-70-68-65=272)3 strokes Paul Azinger2Feb 23, 1997Tucson Chrysler Classic−13 (75-68-65-67=275)1 stroke Steve Jones3Sep 6, 1998Greater Milwaukee Open−19 (68-66-63-68=265)1 stroke Steve Stricker 4Jan 17, 1999Sony Open in Hawaii−9 (69-70-66-66=271)2 strokes Davis Love III, Jeff Maggert, Len Mattiace, Chris Perry, Tommy Tolles5Jul 22, 2001B.C. Open−22 (67-68-65-66=266)Playoff Paul Gow6Jul 14, 2002Greater Milwaukee Open (2)−23 (64-66-63-68=261)4 strokes Tim Herron, Steve Lowery
PGA Tour playoff record (1–6) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11987Tournament Players Championship Sandy LyleLost to par on third extra hole 21991Kemper Open Billy AndradeLost to birdie on first extra hole31992 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Mark O'MearaLost to par on first extra hole41998FedEx St. Jude Classic Nick PriceLost to birdie on second extra hole51999 MCI Classic Glen Day, Payne StewartDay won with birdie on first extra hole62001Nissan Open Robert Allenby, Brandel Chamblee, Toshimitsu Izawa, Dennis Paulson, Bob TwayAllenby won with birdie on first extra hole72001B.C. Open Paul GowWon with birdie on second extra hole
Tournament Player Series wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunners-up1May 5, 1985Tallahassee Open−17 (65-65-74-65=269)1 stroke Kenny Knox, Gary Player
Other wins (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunners-up1Aug 3, 1999CVS Charity Classic(with Stuart Appleby)−20 (63-59=122)2 strokes Brett Quigley and Dana Quigley2Jun 24, 2003CVS Charity Classic (2)(with Rocco Mediate)−22 (63-57=120)1 stroke Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon3Nov 16, 2003Franklin Templeton Shootout(with Hank Kuehne)−23 (65-58-60=193)Playoff Chad Campbell and Shaun Micheel, Brad Faxon and Scott McCarron4Nov 14, 2004Franklin Templeton Shootout (2)(with Hank Kuehne)−29 (64-62-61=187)2 strokes Steve Flesch and Justin Leonard
Other playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12003Franklin Templeton Shootout(with Hank Kuehne) Chad Campbell and Shaun Micheel, Brad Faxon and Scott McCarronWon with birdie on second extra hole
Champions Tour wins (6) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Jun 22, 2008Bank of America Championship−17 (68-67-64=199)2 strokes Loren Roberts2Aug 31, 2008Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach−14 (66-69-67=202)5 strokes Craig Stadler, Fuzzy Zoeller3Sep 6, 2009Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach (2)−10 (65-73-68=206)2 strokes Gene Jones4Jul 10, 2011Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach (3)−10 (68-68-70=206)2 strokes Brad Bryant, David Eger, Jay Haas5Apr 28, 2013Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf(with Brad Faxon)−23 (62-66-65=193)1 stroke Fred Funk and Mike Goodes, Kenny Perry and Gene Sauers6Jun 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.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12009Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf(with Craig Stadler) Bernhard Langer and Tom LehmanLost to par on second extra hole22010AT&T Championship Rod SpittleLost to par on first extra hole32014Constellation Senior Players Championship Bernhard LangerLost to birdie on second extra hole
Other senior wins (1) 2010 Nedbank Champions Challenge
Playoff record PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult11996Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters Costantino Rocca, Lee WestwoodWestwood won with par on fourth extra holeSluman eliminated by birdie on first hole
Major championships
Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 1988 PGA Championship 3 shot deficit −12 (69-70-68-65=272) 3 strokes Paul Azinger
Results timeline Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989Masters TournamentT45T8U.S. OpenCUTT62CUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipCUTPGA ChampionshipT30T141T24
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999Masters TournamentT27T29T4T17T25T41CUTT7CUTT31U.S. OpenT14CUT2T11T9T13T50T28T10CUTThe Open ChampionshipT25T101CUTCUTT60T45PGA ChampionshipT31T61T12T61T25T8T41CUTT27T54
Tournament20002001200220032004200520062007Masters Tournament18T244443T49U.S. OpenCUTT24CUTT6CUTThe Open ChampionshipT60CUTT41PGA ChampionshipT41CUTT23CUTT62CUTCUTCUT
CUT = missed the half way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place.
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 1 3 7 17 15U.S. Open 0 1 0 1 4 8 19 11The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 6PGA Championship 1 0 0 1 2 7 22 16Totals 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 Tournament1986198719881989The Players ChampionshipT402T45CUT Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999The Players ChampionshipCUTCUTT40T46CUTT49T41CUTCUTT46 Tournament20002001200220032004200520062007The Players ChampionshipT17T33T4T32T26T46T45CUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament199920002001200220032004Match PlayR64R32R32R64R32R64ChampionshipT34NT1T43InvitationalT39 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 not in chronological order. Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 202020212022202320242025The Tradition–T31T11T29T12T7T8T911T23T1741T43NTT29T50T63Senior PGA Championship–T9T5T21T18T44T47T15T7CUTT59T19CUTNTT23T66Senior Players ChampionshipT17T3T244T6T43T162T20T9T71T57T54T52T72U.S. Senior Open–T18T16T24T17T28T6T5CUTT32T12CUTT33NTT46T33CUTCUTCUTSenior British Open Championship–T2124T11T28T40T57T16T9T12T15T32T36NTT57CUTCUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
See also 1982 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates 1984 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins List of men's major championships winning golfers
References
External links