Early years

Born and raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, he grew up playing golf at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. He attended high school at Lower Merion High School in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. From there he moved on to Wake Forest University, where he was a member of the golf team, and graduated with a degree in Sociology in 1967.

Business career and personal life

Sigel was considering a professional golf career while in college, but injured his arm in an accident. He decided on a career in insurance, while competing in high-level amateur golf. Sigel developed his own successful insurance business in the Philadelphia area for over 30 years. He recently sold the business to Century Business Services, where he remains a Senior Vice President. He is a Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Financial Consultant and a qualifying life member of the Million Dollar Round Table. He also sits on the Corporate Advisory Board for the American Cancer Society, and is the president of the Greater Philadelphia Scholastic Golf Association and the First Tee of Philadelphia chapter. He hosts the Annual Jay Sigel Invitational Golf Tournament at his home course, Aronimink Golf Club. The proceeds from this tournament benefit prostate cancer research at the University of Pennsylvania. He has three daughters and currently resides in Berwyn, Pennsylvania with wife Betty.

Amateur golf highlights

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Sigel was one of America’s premier amateur golfers. He compiled victories in the U.S. Amateur, British Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur, competed on nine Walker Cup teams, and won numerous other amateur titles. In 1983, he became the only golfer ever to win the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur in the same year, which made him only the third golfer to win two USGA individual titles in the same year. He was also runner-up in the Canadian Amateur Championship that year. Although he remained an amateur he did occasionally compete in professional events. His best finish was tied 18th at the 1979 IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic. He was the low amateur in the 1980 Open Championship, the 1984 U.S. Open, and the Masters Tournament in 1980, 1981, and 1988.

Professional golf

Sigel turned professional when he reached the age of 50. He joined the Senior PGA Tour in 1994 and won Rookie of the Year honors, when he earned 14 top-10 finishes and secured his first victory at the GTE West Classic. For the next five seasons, he finished in the top-31 on the Senior Tour money list. He won eight events; the last was the 2003 Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am. In the 2004 Champions Tour season, Sigel finished in the money in all 28 tournaments that he entered and had six top-10 finishes. During the 2005 campaign his best finish was 5th at the Turtle Bay Championship. He has career earnings of over $9 million. Since joining the Champions Tour in 1994, Sigel has been sponsored by global management consulting and technology services company Accenture.

Amateur wins

this list may be incomplete

• 1961 International Jaycee Junior Golf Tournament
• 1973 Philadelphia Amateur
• 1975 Porter Cup
• 1976 Sunnehanna Amateur
• 1978 Sunnehanna Amateur
• 1979 British Amateur
• 1981 Porter Cup
• 1982 U.S. Amateur
• 1983 U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur
• 1984 Northeast Amateur
• 1985 Northeast Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur
• 1987 Porter Cup, U.S. Mid-Amateur, Philadelphia Amateur
• 1988 Sunnehanna Amateur
• 1991 Northeast Amateur

Other wins (10)

this list may be incomplete

• 1974 Pennsylvania Open Championship
• 1975 Philadelphia Open Championship
• 1977 Philadelphia Open Championship
• 1978 Philadelphia Open Championship, Pennsylvania Open Championship
• 1980 Philadelphia Open Championship
• 1983 Pennsylvania Open Championship
• 1986 Philadelphia Open Championship
• 1987 Philadelphia Open Championship
• 1990 Pennsylvania Open Championship

Champions Tour wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Mar 6, 1994	GTE West Classic	-12 (70-66-62=198)	Playoff	Jim Colbert
2	Nov 10, 1996	Energizer Senior Tour Championship	-9 (69-69-69-72=279)	2 strokes	Kermit Zarley
3	May 4, 1997	Bruno's Memorial Classic	-11 (68-67-70=205)	3 strokes	Gil Morgan
4	Jul 6, 1997	Kroger Senior Classic	-18 (66-63-66=195)	7 strokes	Isao Aoki
5	May 24, 1998	Bell Atlantic Classic	-11 (74-62-69=205)	Playoff	José Maria Cañizares
6	Oct 25, 1998	EMC Kaanapali Classic	-12 (61-72-68=201)	2 strokes	Hugh Baiocchi, Larry Laoretti
7	May 26, 2002	Farmers Charity Classic	-13 (67-69-67=203)	2 strokes	Morris Hatalsky
8	May 18, 2003	Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am	-11 (72-68-65=205)	1 stroke	Mike McCullough

Champions Tour playoff record (2-2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1994	GTE West Classic	Jim Colbert	Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
2	1997	Toshiba Senior Classic	Bob Murphy	Lost to birdie on ninth extra hole
3	1997	Northville Long Island Classic	Dana Quigley	Lost to par on third extra hole
4	1998	Bell Atlantic Classic	José Maria Cañizares	Won with birdie on third extra hole

Other senior wins

• 1997 Diners Club Matches (with Gil Morgan)
• 2006 Georgia-Pacific Grand Champions Championship (unofficial Champions Tour event)

Results in major championships

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	T26 LA	T35 LA	CUT	CUT	CUT	T41	CUT	CUT	T39 LA	DNP
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	DNP	CUT	T43 LA	T64	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT
The Open Championship	T38	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

LA = Low amateur
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Walker Cup: 1977 (winners), 1979 (winners), 1981 (winners), 1983 (winners, playing captain), 1985 (winners, playing captain), 1987 (winners), 1989, 1991 (winners), 1993 (winners)
• Eisenhower Trophy: 1978 (winners), 1980 (winners), 1982 (winners), 1984, 1986, 1988, 1992

[ Source: Wikipedia ]