Before I was the golf photo editor at Sports Illustrated, my friend Ward Haynes had the job. This was back in the mid-'90s and Jeff Sluman, all 5'7" of him, was coming into his prime. He won the '88 PGA Championship for his first tour victory and then didn't win again until '97. He went on to win one tournament every year (except 2000) through 2002. He was a late bloomer. He ended up with six victories, he has two Champions Tour wins and has over $18 million in career earnings. I bring up Ward because I can't think of Jeff Sluman without thinking of what Ward called him: "Little Jeffy Slu." I speak of Ward in the past tense because he died on 9/11, two weeks into a job at Cantor Fitzgerald. Ward was an infectious spirit, loved golf, his family, his friends, catching the bar car on Metro North from Manhattan to Rye, and Jeff Sluman was one of his favorite tour players. What's not to like? Sluman's a little guy with a big heart and he's well traveled. And I'm not talking about getting to the John Deere or Milwaukee Open (which he won twice). I'm talking about helicopters to glaciers, peering down the pyramids and he's looking into a trip to Croatia. I sat down with Sluman recently and he told me about restaurants he recommends in his hometown of Chicago. He also told me about buddies trips to Ireland with fellow tour pros, how he kills time on a plane, his thoughts on Tiger beating Jack's record and why he doesn't own a vacation home.
Here's a link to my complete Q&A with little Jeffy Slu.
Oddly enough, Sluman's birthday is Sept. 11, 1957
--Matty G.
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