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 $1,250,187 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.

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)

• 1978 New York State Amateur
• 1981 Monroe Invitational

Professional wins (18)

PGA Tour wins (6)

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	−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 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, Toshi 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

Other wins (5)

• 1985 Tallahassee Open (Tournament Players Series)
• 1999 CVS Charity Classic (with Stuart Appleby)
• 2003 CVS Charity Classic (with Rocco Mediate)
• 2003 Franklin Templeton Shootout (with Hank Kuehne)
• 2004 Franklin Templeton Shootout (with Hank Kuehne)

Champions Tour wins (6)

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	Fuzzy Zoeller, Craig Stadler
3	Sep 6, 2009	Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach	−10 (65-73-68=206)	2 strokes	Gene Jones
4	Jul 10, 2011	Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach	−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 & Mike Goodes, Kenny Perry & Gene Sauers
6	Jun 8, 2014	Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf (with Fred Funk)	−20 (61-50-48=159)	1 stroke	Jay Haas & 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 & Tom Lehman	Lost to par on second extra hole
2	2010	AT&T Championship	Rod Spittle	Lost to par on first extra hole
2	2014	Constellation Senior Players Championship	Bernhard Langer	Lost to birdie on second extra hole

Other senior wins (1)

• 2010 Nedbank Champions Challenge

Major championships

Wins (1)

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

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T45	T8
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T62	DNP	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	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	DNP	DNP	T60	DNP	DNP	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	DNP	T24	44	43	DNP	DNP	T49
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	T24	CUT	DNP	DNP	T6	CUT
The Open Championship	T60	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	T41	DNP
PGA Championship	T41	CUT	T23	CUT	T62	CUT	CUT	CUT

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

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)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]