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American professional golfer (1948–2021) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bruce Lee Fleisher (October 16, 1948 – September 23, 2021) was an American professional golfer.
Bruce Fleisher | |||||||||||
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Personal information | |||||||||||
Full name | Bruce Lee Fleisher | ||||||||||
Born | Union City, Tennessee, U.S. | October 16, 1948||||||||||
Died | September 23, 2021 72) (aged Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||
Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st) | ||||||||||
Sporting nationality | United States | ||||||||||
Career | |||||||||||
College | Miami-Dade Junior College Furman University | ||||||||||
Turned professional | 1969 | ||||||||||
Former tour(s) | PGA Tour Champions Tour | ||||||||||
Professional wins | 35 | ||||||||||
Number of wins by tour | |||||||||||
PGA Tour | 1 | ||||||||||
PGA Tour Champions | 18 | ||||||||||
European Senior Tour | 1 | ||||||||||
Other | 15 | ||||||||||
Best results in major championships | |||||||||||
Masters Tournament | T25: 1992 | ||||||||||
PGA Championship | T14: 1993 | ||||||||||
U.S. Open | T41: 1986 | ||||||||||
The Open Championship | CUT: 1969 | ||||||||||
Achievements and awards | |||||||||||
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Fleisher was born in Union City, Tennessee, and was Jewish.[1][2][3]
In 1950, the Fleisher family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where Bruce began playing golf with his brothers, Leslie and Jerry. When Bruce was 14, the Fleishers moved to Miami, Florida.[4]
Fleisher became involved in golf at age seven by working as a caddie with his two brothers.[1][5] Fleisher attended Miami-Dade Junior College and Furman University.[1] In 1968 at age 19, he became the third-youngest player to win the U.S. Amateur.[1][5] He also was the low amateur at the 1969 Masters Tournament. He turned professional in 1969.[1]
Fleisher won both individual and team gold medals in golf at the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Israel.[6][7]
Fleisher spent much of his regular career as a club professional; he won the PGA Club Professional Championship in 1989. His regular tournament career was modest, with one win on the PGA Tour, the 1991 New England Classic, and a few wins in minor tournaments.
He was much more successful on the Champions Tour (now PGA Tour Champions) with 18 wins, including one senior major, the 2001 U.S. Senior Open.[1] Fleisher became the first player ever to earn back-to-back victories in his first two Champions Tour events, which helped him win Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards in 1999.[5] He also has one win on the European Seniors Tour, which came in 2000 at the Irish Seniors Open.[1]
He served as head coach for the USA Open Golf Team at the 1989 Maccabiah Games and the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel.[6]
Fleisher and his wife Wendy lived in the Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, area.[8] In 2017, he was inducted into the Greater Wilmington (North Carolina) Sports Hall of Fame.[4]
Fleisher died of cancer at age 72 on September 23, 2021.[9]
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jul 14, 1991 | New England Classic | −16 (64-67-73-64=268) | Playoff | Ian Baker-Finch |
PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1991 | New England Classic | Ian Baker-Finch | Won with birdie on seventh extra hole |
Legend |
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Senior major championships (1) |
Other Champions Tour (17) |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Feb 7, 1999 | Royal Caribbean Classic | −11 (66-69-70=205) | 2 strokes | Isao Aoki |
2 | Feb 14, 1999 | American Express Invitational | −13 (67-67-69=203) | 3 strokes | Larry Nelson |
3 | Apr 25, 1999 | Home Depot Invitational | −11 (69-67-69=205) | 1 stroke | Terry Dill, Jim Holtgrieve |
4 | Jun 13, 1999 | BellSouth Senior Classic | −16 (71-63-66=200) | 1 stroke | Al Geiberger |
5 | Aug 8, 1999 | Lightpath Long Island Classic | −10 (64-69-73=206) | 2 strokes | Allen Doyle |
6 | Oct 10, 1999 | The Transamerica | −17 (66-66-67=199) | 1 stroke | Allen Doyle |
7 | Oct 24, 1999 | EMC Kaanapali Classic | −17 (65-67-67=199) | 1 stroke | Allen Doyle |
8 | Feb 6, 2000 | Royal Caribbean Classic (2) | 30 pts (6-16-8=30) | 2 points | Vicente Fernández |
9 | Feb 20, 2000 | GTE Classic | −16 (67-64-69=200) | 4 strokes | Dana Quigley |
10 | May 7, 2000 | Home Depot Invitational (2) | −13 (67-68-68=203) | Playoff | Hubert Green |
11 | Jul 30, 2000 | Lightpath Long Island Classic (2) | −18 (63-66-69=198) | 2 strokes | Dana Quigley |
12 | Apr 22, 2001 | Las Vegas Senior Classic | −8 (70-68-70=208) | 3 strokes | José María Cañizares, Vicente Fernández, Walter Hall, Hale Irwin, Doug Tewell, Larry Nelson |
13 | May 6, 2001 | Home Depot Invitational (3) | −15 (66-67-68=201) | 3 strokes | John Bland |
14 | Jul 1, 2001 | U.S. Senior Open | E (69-71-72-68=280) | 1 stroke | Isao Aoki, Gil Morgan |
15 | Feb 24, 2002 | RJR Championship | −8 (75-66-67=208) | 1 stroke | Hale Irwin, Gary McCord |
16 | Feb 23, 2003 | Verizon Classic (2) | −8 (68-70-67=205) | 1 stroke | Hale Irwin |
17 | Feb 8, 2004 | Royal Caribbean Golf Classic (3) | −6 (69-70-71=210) | 1 stroke | Dana Quigley |
18 | May 2, 2004 | Bruno's Memorial Classic | −16 (64-68-68=200) | 7 strokes | Bruce Lietzke, D. A. Weibring |
Champions Tour playoff record (1–2)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1999 | Southwestern Bell Dominion | José María Cañizares, John Mahaffey | Mahaffey won with birdie on second extra hole Fleisher eliminated by birdie on first hole |
2 | 2000 | Home Depot Invitational | Hubert Green | Won with birdie on third extra hole |
3 | 2001 | State Farm Senior Classic | Allen Doyle | Lost to par on third extra hole |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | May 14, 2000 | AIB Irish Seniors Open | −7 (70-67-72=209) | 3 strokes | George Burns, Bob Shearer |
Ben Hogan Tour playoff record (0–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1990 | Ben Hogan Gateway Open | John Daly, Ted Tryba | Tryba won with eagle on first extra hole |
Tournament | 1968 | 1969 |
---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | 44LA | |
U.S. Open | CUT | CUT |
The Open Championship | CUT | |
PGA Championship |
Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | ||||||||||
U.S. Open | CUT | CUT | T44 | |||||||
The Open Championship | ||||||||||
PGA Championship |
Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | ||||||||||
U.S. Open | T41 | |||||||||
The Open Championship | ||||||||||
PGA Championship | T43 | T63 |
Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | T25 | ||||
U.S. Open | |||||
The Open Championship | |||||
PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | T33 | T14 | T61 |
LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1969 Open Championship)
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Year | Championship | Winning score | Margin | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | U.S. Senior Open | E (69-71-72-68=280) | 1 stroke | Isao Aoki, Gil Morgan |
Fleisher won a gold medal at the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Israel, and he coached the U.S. golf team at the 1989 Games.
Amateur
Professional
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