Bruce Fleisher

Bruce Fleisher
Bruce Fleisher
Personal information
Full name	Bruce Lee Fleisher
Born	October 16, 1948; Union City, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	September 23, 2021 (aged 72); 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
PGA Tour Comeback; Player of the Year
PGA Tour Comeback; Player of the Year	1991
Senior PGA Tour; money list winner	1999
Senior PGA Tour; Player of the Year	1999
Senior PGA Tour; Rookie of the Year	1999
Senior PGA Tour; Byron Nelson Award	1999

Bruce Lee Fleisher (October 16, 1948 – September 23, 2021) was an American professional golfer.

Early years and amateur career

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]

Amateur career

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]

Professional career

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]

Personal life

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]

Amateur wins

1968 U.S. Amateur

Professional wins (35)

PGA Tour wins (1)

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

Latin American and Caribbean wins (6)

1971 Brazil Open
1980 Panama Open
1986 Jamaica Open
1990 Jamaica Open, Bahamas Open, Chevrolet Classic

Other wins (9)

1977 Little Crosby Pro-Am
1980 Florida Open
1981 South Florida PGA Championship
1987 Florida Open, South Florida PGA Championship
1989 PGA Club Professional Championship
1993 Pebble Beach Invitational
2015 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf (Legends division, with Larry Nelson)
2016 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf (Legends division, with Larry Nelson)

Champions Tour wins (18)

Legend
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

European Seniors Tour wins (1)

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

Playoff record

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

Results in major championships

Tournament	1968	1969
Masters Tournament		44LA
U.S. Open	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship		CUT
PGA Championship

Tournament	1971	1976	1977
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open	CUT	CUT	T44
The Open Championship
PGA Championship

Tournament	1981	1983	1986
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

Did not play

LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1969 Open Championship)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runners-up
2001	U.S. Senior Open	E (69-71-72-68=280)	1 stroke	Isao Aoki, Gil Morgan

Maccabiah Games

Fleisher won a gold medal at the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Israel, and he coached the U.S. golf team at the 1989 Games.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Eisenhower Trophy: 1968 (winners)
Walker Cup: 1969 (winners)

Professional

PGA Cup: 1990 (winners)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Bruce Fleisher Profile". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
^ Wechsler, Bob (2008). Day by Day in Jewish Sports History. KATV Publishing House. ISBN 978-1-60280-013-7.
^ Riess, Steven A., ed. (2015). Sports in America from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-31745-946-0.
^ ^a ^b "Bruce Lee Fleisher". Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Biography from Bruce Fleisher's official site". Retrieved May 10, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Churylo, Julie (May 23, 2012). "Champion Golf Pro Bruce Fleisher To Coach The USA Open Golf Team". Maccabi USA.
^ Lieberman, Randall P. (February 23, 2015). "Maccabi USA to honor 15 from South Florida at brunch in Boca Raton". Sun-Sentinel.
^ "Bruce Fleisher". Maccabi USA. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ Shefter, David (September 23, 2021). "Bruce Fleisher, Two-Time USGA Champion, Dies at 72". USGA.

External links

Official website
Bruce Fleisher at the PGA Tour official site
Bruce Fleisher at the Official World Golf Ranking official site

[PGApro-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Bruce Fleisher Profile". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2011.

[2] Wechsler, Bob (2008). Day by Day in Jewish Sports History. KATV Publishing House. ISBN 978-1-60280-013-7.

[3] Riess, Steven A., ed. (2015). Sports in America from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-31745-946-0.

[gwshof-4] "Bruce Lee Fleisher". Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame.

[bio-5] "Biography from Bruce Fleisher's official site". Retrieved May 10, 2011.

[maccabi-6] Churylo, Julie (May 23, 2012). "Champion Golf Pro Bruce Fleisher To Coach The USA Open Golf Team". Maccabi USA.

[7] Lieberman, Randall P. (February 23, 2015). "Maccabi USA to honor 15 from South Florida at brunch in Boca Raton". Sun-Sentinel.

[8] "Bruce Fleisher". Maccabi USA. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.

[9] Shefter, David (September 23, 2021). "Bruce Fleisher, Two-Time USGA Champion, Dies at 72". USGA.

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