PGA Championship

August 11-14, 1988

1988 PGA Tourney Highlights

Azinger shot a 71 on Saturday to hold his lead as the wind came up and blew several players out of contention. One shot that helped him was his tee shot at number 4, which sailed across the pond, took two bounces, and went into the hole for an ace. Azinger thrust his fist into the air and tossed his visor to the heavens. At that point he had a four-stroke lead. But by day's end, it was down to one as Rummels stayed hot with a 68. Three off the lead was diminutive Jeff Sluman, at 5 foot 7 inches and 135 pounds the smallest player on the Tour. Sluman, playing steadily, had attracted little notice while bettering par in each of his three rounds: 69,70,68.

Azinger found himself in a familiar position. Three weeks earlier he had led the British Open after fifty four holes only to lose it to Nick Faldo with bogeys at 17 and 18. Now Faldo was in fourth place, four back. As for the two nearer pursuers, neither Rummels nor Sluman had ever won on the Tour.

But on Sunday, Sluman would win in the most decisive way, with a round of 65 that tied David Graham's 1979 mark as the lowest winning final round in PGA history. His score of 272 was only one off the championship record and it made him the first player since Jerry Pate in 1976 to make a major championship his inaugural victory.

The key hole was number 5 where Azinger made a bogey 6 and Sluman stunned the field by holing out a 115-yard wedge shot for eagle 3. "As soon as I hit it I knew it was going to be close," he said. "When it went in, it was the first time in 95-degree heat that I've had chills all up and down my body."

Azinger followed his bogey, with another bogey at 6 as Sluman birdied 7 to go two ahead. Three more birdies on the back nine sealed it for him. Azinger tried to catch him, birdieing 16 and then hitting the stick with his tee shot at 17, his ball stopping only three inches away. But he needed another birdie at 18, and instead he made a bogey.

Prior to Oak Tree, Sluman had had trouble finishing tournaments. Although he ranked fourth in scoring average on the Tour (70.23), his third-round average of 71.5 ranked 112th and his final round average of 71.9 was 106th. He had blown leads at three tournaments earlier in the year. But this time, over the final thirty-six holes, he outplayed the field by five strokes. In the last round he missed only one fairway, only three greens. No one lost this PGA. Jeff Sluman won it.