Jeff Sluman — A Swinging Career
While growing up, PGA pro Jeff Sluman had no aspirations to become a professional golfer. However, after a solid collegiate career at Florida State University and winning a Metro Conference title, he decided to make golf his career choice. He turned professional in 1980, and in the fall of 1982 he earned his PGA Tour Card.
One of Jeff's biggest accomplishments was winning a major tournament for his first Tour victory – the 1988 PGA Championship – with one of the greatest finishing rounds in PGA Championship history. "I'd accomplished things I'd always wanted to do," he said, "and that was to win. And for my first win to be a major was very special to me."
Jeff's second victory came at the 1997 Tucson Chrysler Classic. During the nine years between wins, consistency was the key to Jeff's career, with eight second place finishes, nearly five million dollars in career earnings, and six top-30 Tour seasons from 1987 to 1996.
Jeff's third career win came at the 1998 Greater Milwaukee Open, which was special because it was fairly close to his home in Chicago. Then he opened the 1999 season by winning the Sony Open in Honolulu for his fourth Tour victory. In 2001, Jeff won his fifth Tour event, the B.C. Open, before a hometown crowd in Endicott, New York, about 90 miles from where he grew up. He won the Greater Milwaukee Open again in 2002 for his sixth Tour victory. As in 1998, he posted a third-round low score of 63 to go into the final day with the lead, and this time he went on to win by four strokes. He finished the 2002 season ranked 15th on the PGA Tour with six top-10 finishes and $2,250,187 in earnings – his best year on Tour in both ranking and earnings.
In 2003, the highlight of Jeff's year was being selected by Presidents Cup Captain Jack Nicklaus to be assistant captain of the U.S. Team. Jeff won the post-season Franklin Templeton Shootout with partner Hank Kuehne that year and a second consecutive time in 2004. He had another solid season in 2005, earning over a million dollars, and was asked again by Jack Nicklaus to serve as Captain's Assistant for the winning U.S. Presidents Cup team. In 2006, he earned over $1 million for the sixth straight season and for the eighth time in nine years.
Jeff's 2007 season was up and down from a results and money earned point of view. From January to mid-August, he started 21 PGA Tour events but only finished eight tournaments, was cut 12 times, withdrew once, and earned $273,192. In September, he turned 50. Three days later, he debuted on the Champions Tour, where he finished the season with four top-20 finishes in five events played and earned $125,163. A season highlight was again being Assistant Captain to Jack Nicklaus on the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup team in September in Montreal, Canada.
Jeff joined the Senior PGA's Champions Tour full-time in 2008, winning his first title in June at the Bank of America Championship in Concord, Massachusetts. He earned a second victory on August 31 at the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach in California. He competed in 26 events, recording 12 top-10 finishes and 21 top-25 finishes. He earned $1,728,443 and was fourth on the money list, sixth on the Charles Schwab Cup list, and second on the rookie-of-the-year list behind Bernhard Langer.
In 2009, Jeff repeated as winner of the Walmart First Tee Open. He also repeated a second in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf and earned a tie for third at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. He earned $1,378,094 with ten top-10 finishes, was sixth on the money list, and seventh on the Charles Schwab Cup list.
Sporting Paychex
A Rochester, New York native, Jeff felt it was natural for him to sport the logo of Paychex, a Rochester-based company. "It's been a wonderful relationship for me so far," he said. "Things have gone well for me since I started wearing the logo in 1986. My hat is one of the most recognized on tour, according to the TV people. It's funny – people don't seem to recognize me without it."
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