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Bruce Fleisher
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EXEMPT STATUS: Top 31 on 2001 SENIOR TOUR Money
List
FULL NAME: Bruce Lee Fleisher
HEIGHT: 6-3
WEIGHT: 205
BIRTHDATE: October 16, 1948
BIRTHPLACE: Union City, TN
RESIDENCE: Ballen Isles, FL
FAMILY: Wife, Wendy; Jessica (3/23/80)
EDUCATION: Miami-Dade Junior College, Furman University
SPECIAL INTERESTS: Music, fitness, nutrition
TURNED PROFESSIONAL: 1969
JOINED TOUR: 1999
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| PGA TOUR Victories |
| (1) 1991 New England Classic. |
| SENIOR TOUR Victories |
| (14) 1999 Royal Caribbean Classic, American Express
Invitational, The Home Depot Invitational, BellSouth Senior
Classic at Opryland, Lightpath Long Island Classic, The
Transamerica, EMC Kaanapali Classic. 2000 Royal Caribbean
Classic, GTE Classic, The Home Depot Invitational, Lightpath
Long Island Classic. 2001 Las Vegas Senior Classic, The
Home Depot Invitational, U.S. Senior Open. |
| International Victories |
| 2000 AIB Irish Seniors Open |
| Other Victories |
| 1968 U.S. Amateur, 1971, 1990 Brazilian Open, 1989 PGA
Club Pro Championship, 1990 PGA Cup (team), 1990 Jamaican
Open, 1990 Bahamas Open. |
| Current Year Charles Schwab Cup
Points and Positions |
| 383 (8th) |
| Current Year SENIOR PGA TOUR Money
and Positions |
| $517,398 (6) |
| Current Year SENIOR TOUR Best Finishes |
| T2--Royal Caribbean Classic; T3--Verizon Classic; T4--Audi
Senior Classic; T5--MasterCard Championship; T7--Siebel
Classic in Silicon Valley |
| Current Year SENIOR TOUR Best Round |
| 65 at Round 2, Verizon Classic |
| Current Year SENIOR TOUR Highlights |
| Made a late run at his third Royal Caribbean Classic
title before coming up one stroke short of John Jacobs,
T2 with Isao Aoki and Tom Watson. Birdied the par-3 17th
hole to close within a shot of the lead, but saw his hopes
for victory dashed when he pushed his drive on the 18th
tee to the right into Crandon Park's mangrove trees...Was
the 36-hole leader at the Verizon Classic, but eventually
tied for third in Tampa, his fourth consecutive top-3
finish at that event. Final-round 75 ended his run of
11 straight sub-par rounds at the TPC of Tampa Bay. |
| Best BUY.COM Finishes |
| T2--1990 Ben Hogan Gateway Open. |
| Best 2001 SENIOR TOUR Finishes |
| 1--Las Vegas Senior Classic, The Home Depot Invitational,
U.S. Senior Open; 2--FleetBoston Classic, State Farm Senior
Classic, Verizon Classic; 3--AT&T Canada Senior Open Championship,
MasterCard Championship, BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland,
3M Championship; T4--FORD SENIOR PLAYERS Championship;
T5--SBC Championship; T6--Emerald Coast Classic, SAS Championship;
7--Senior PGA Championship, The Countrywide Tradition,
Lightpath Long Island Classic; T8--ACE Group Classic,
The Transamerica; T9--Gold Rush Classic |
| 2001 Season SENIOR TOUR |
| Tournaments Entered--31; in money--31; Top-10 finishes--20 |
| 2001 Season Highlights |
| Again proved to be one of the SENIOR TOUR's leading
players...Went over the $2 million mark in earnings for
the third straight year and averaged $77,791 per event...Went
down to the wire with Allen Doyle for the top spot in
the first Charles Schwab Cup competition and the money
list...Among his 20 top-10 finishes were three victories,
including his first major championship triumph on the
SENIOR TOUR...Joined Doyle as the only players to finish
in the top 10 in all four senior major championships...Of
his 94 rounds, 48 were in the 60s and he had 70 sub-par
rounds...Claimed his biggest career victory at the U.S.
Senior Open at Salem CC near Boston, one year after losing
the 54-hole lead at Saucon Valley and finishing second
to Hale Irwin. Was among four players four strokes back
with one round to play, but carded a steady 68 in the
final round to edge Gil Morgan and Isao Aoki by one stroke...Started
a streak of 24 straight rounds of par or better on the
last day of the U.S. Senior Open, a best for the 2001
campaign...Overcame a two-stroke deficit entering the
final round of the Las Vegas Senior Classic to win by
three strokes. Three-round total of 8-under 208 at the
TPC of Summerlin was the highest winning 54-hole score
of the year...Became just the sixth player in SENIOR TOUR
history to win the same event three straight times when
he triumphed at The Home Depot Invitational in Charlotte
with a tournament-record score of 15-under 201. Was the
only player in the field to post three rounds in the 60s
at the TPC at Piper Glen and was three strokes better
than John Bland at the end. His 13th career win came in
just his 74th start as a SENIOR TOUR player...Almost won
a fourth tournament at the State Farm Senior Classic near
Baltimore, but fell to Allen Doyle on the third extra
playoff hole. |
| Career Highlights |
| 2000: Posted four official victories and had a total
of 19 top-10 finishes, second only to Larry Nelson's 23...Was
only out of the top-10 in consecutive starts twice during
the season and topped the $2.3 million mark in official
earnings for the second year in a row ($79,133 per start)...Successfully
defended three titles during the campaign. Edged Vicente
Fernandez by two points at the Royal Caribbean Classic
thanks to five birdies on Sunday in the modified Stableford-format
event. Bested Hubert Green in a playoff at The Home Depot
Invitational, making birdie on the third extra hole of
overtime. Went wire-to-wire for the second year in a row
to claim the Lightpath Long Island Classic by two strokes
over Dana Quigley. Never looked back after opening with
a course-record 63 at the Meadow Brook Club, the lowest
start by a winner in 2000, and posted a tournament-record
score of 18-under 198...Had outdistanced Quigley by four
strokes earlier in the year at the GTE Classic in Tampa
and earned February Player of the Month honors. GTE Classic
win gave him nine victories in his first 36 senior career
starts and the nine wins came in a period of one year,
15 days, the fastest anyone has reached that mark in SENIOR
TOUR history...Suffered his most disappointing defeat
of the season at the U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley.
Fired a course-record 7-under 64 on the first day and
was also the 36- and 54-hole leader before being overtaken
by Hale Irwin on Sunday...Was the first player over the
$2-million mark in single-season earnings in 2000 with
his $78,000 check at the FleetBoston Classic. 1999: Was
the dominant player on the SENIOR TOUR and collected all
top post-season honors including Player of the Year, Rookie
of the Year and the Byron Nelson Trophy for lowest scoring
average (69.19)...Was the first rookie since Lee Trevino
in 1990 to win the Arnold Palmer Award as the leading
money-winner with $2,515,705 ($78,894/start), the second
highest single-season total in the history of the circuit
at the time...Also joined Trevino (1990), Bruce Crampton
(1986) and Miller Barber (1981) as the only players to
win seven official events in their first year on the SENIOR
TOUR...Had 56 rounds in the 60s, a record at the time,
and was under par in 75 of his 96 rounds played (78.1%)...Became
the eighth player in SENIOR TOUR history to win his debut
when he went wire-to-wire in claiming the Royal Carribbean
Classic at Key Biscayne...Won the American Express Invitational
in Sarasota by three strokes over Larry Nelson the very
next week to become the first player ever to claim his
first two starts on the circuit...Added a third title
in late April at The Home Depot Invitational, edging Terry
Dill and Jim Holtgrieve by a stroke in Charlotte...Used
a 9-under-par 63 on Saturday, his low round of the year,
to nip Al Geiberger by a shot for the BellSouth Senior
Classic at Opryland title in Nashville...Went wire-to-wire
in early August to clip Allen Doyle by two strokes at
the Lightpath Long Island Classic...Outdueled Doyle again
late in the season at The Transamerica, then clinched
the money title two weeks later by edging Doyle again
at the EMC Kaanapali Classic...Also finished second seven
times including a playoff loss to John Mahaffey at the
Southwestern Bell Dominion. 1998: Earned a full exemption
for the 1999 season after finishing second at the SENIOR
TOUR National Qualifying Tournament at Grenelefe...Fired
four consecutive sub-par rounds and ended up three strokes
back of Allen Doyle. |
| Personal |
| Worked as a club professional in the mid-to-late 1980s,
including a stint at Williams Island CC in North Miami
Beach...Lists Arnold Palmer and President George W. Bush
as his heroes...Favorite golf course is Pebble Beach...Got
started in golf at age 7 by working as a caddie with his
two brothers. |
| PGA TOUR Playoff Record |
| 1-0 |
| SENIOR TOUR Playoff Record |
| 1-2 |
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