Hal Sutton

Hal Evan Sutton (born April 28, 1958) is an American professional golfer who had 14 victories on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1983 PGA Championship.

Sutton was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. A promising golfer at the Centenary College of Louisiana, he was named Golf Magazine's 1980 College Player of the Year. At Centenary, Sutton won 14 golf tournaments, was an All American, led the Gents to the NCAA Tournament, and finished ninth nationally. He quickly established himself as one of the PGA Tour's top young stars in the early 1980s. His first win was at the 1982 Walt Disney World Golf Classic in a playoff with Bill Britton after the two had tied at 19-under-par 269 after 72 holes.

The biggest win of Sutton's career – and his only major championship – came a year later at the 1983 PGA Championship. He entered into a long drought shortly thereafter, going from 1987 to 1994 without a PGA Tour victory. He nearly lost his tour card late in the string, maintaining it only by using a one-time-only exemption for players in the top 50 of the all-time PGA Tour career money list. After this disappointing eight years, Sutton rejuvenated his career in 1995 with a win at the B.C. Open.

In 1998, Sutton won the Valero Texas Open and the prestigious Tour Championship to finish fifth on the PGA Tour money list. Other than his spectacular 1983 season, Sutton had his best year to date in 2000 by beating Tiger Woods in the final group of The Players Championship to win. He also had an additional win to that—the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic two starts later. He would go on to finish fourth on the PGA Tour money list. In 2001, Sutton made the cut in 22 of 26 events with one victory at the Shell Houston Open at TPC at The Woodlands and a season winnings total of $1.7 million.

Sutton ranked in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for over 50 weeks from their debut in 1986 to 1987 and then again for over 50 weeks between 1999 and 2001. He has reached the top five of the rankings.

After playing on four U.S. Ryder Cup teams (1985, 1987, 1999, 2002), he was named non-playing captain of the team for 2004. The competition, played at Oakland Hills Country Club, saw Europe beat the USA by 18.5 points to 9.5 points. Inevitably, Sutton came in for some criticism of his performance as captain, especially for his decision to pair Tiger Woods with Phil Mickelson on the first day of play.

In 2007 he received the Payne Stewart Award. He won it for his charitable efforts which include the establishment of the Christus Schumpert Sutton Children's Hospital in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. He also teamed up with Louisianans Kelly Gibson and David Toms to raise more than $2 million in aid to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita victims. Sutton was also awarded the Omar N. Bradley Spirit of Independence Award in 2004 and the Golf Writers Association of America's 2006 Charlie Bartlett Award with Gibson and Toms for their relief efforts.

Sutton became eligible to play on the Champions Tour in April 2008. His best finish in this venue is T-3 at the 2009 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.

• 1974 Louisiana Junior Amateur
• 1979 Western Amateur
• 1980 North and South Amateur, U.S. Amateur, Western Amateur, Northeast Amateur, Eisenhower Trophy medalist

PGA Tour wins (14)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Oct 31, 1982	Walt Disney World Golf Classic	−19 (71-63-68-67=269)	Playoff	Bill Britton
2	Mar 28, 1983	Tournament Players Championship	−5 (73-71-70-69=283)	1 stroke	Bob Eastwood
3	Aug 7, 1983	PGA Championship	−10 (65-66-72-71=274)	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
4	Jun 30, 1985	St. Jude Memphis Classic	−9 (65-76-73-65=279)	Playoff	David Ogrin
5	Sep 22, 1985	Southwest Golf Classic	−15 (68-67-67-71=273)	Playoff	Mike Reid
6	Jan 26, 1986	Phoenix Open	−17 (64-64-68-71=267)	2 strokes	Calvin Peete, Tony Sills
7	May 25, 1986	Memorial Tournament	−17 (68-69-66-68=271)	4 strokes	Don Pooley
8	Sep 17, 1995	B.C. Open	−15 (71-69-68-61=269)	1 stroke	Jim McGovern
9	Sep 27, 1998	Westin Texas Open	−18 (67-68-67-68=270)	1 stroke	Justin Leonard , Jay Haas
10	Nov 1, 1998	The Tour Championship	−6 (69-67-68-70=274)	Playoff	Vijay Singh
11	Sep 12, 1999	Bell Canadian Open	−13 (69-67-70-69=275)	3 strokes	Dennis Paulson
12	Mar 27, 2000	The Players Championship	−10 (69-69-69-71=278)	1 stroke	Tiger Woods
13	Apr 23, 2000	Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic	−14 (67-64-72-71=274)	3 strokes	Andrew Magee
14	Apr 22, 2001	Shell Houston Open	−10 (70-68-71-69=278)	3 strokes	Joe Durant, Lee Janzen

PGA Tour playoff record (4–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1982	Walt Disney World Golf Classic	Bill Britton	Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
2	1985	St. Jude Memphis Classic	David Ogrin	Won with birdie on first extra hole
3	1985	Southwest Golf Classic	Mike Reid	Won with birdie on first extra hole
4	1989	Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic	Mike Donald, Tim Simpson	Donald won with birdie on fourth extra hole Sutton eliminated with par on third hole
5	1994	Federal Express St. Jude Classic	Dicky Pride, Gene Sauers	Pride won with birdie on first extra hole
6	1998	The Tour Championship	Vijay Singh	Won with birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (1)

• 1985 Chrysler Team Championship (with Raymond Floyd)

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1983	PGA Championship	2 shot lead	−10 (65-66-72-71=274)	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus

Results timeline

LA = Low amateur
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

• Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (twice)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1999 U.S. Open – 1999 Open Championship)

Amateur

• Walker Cup: 1979 (winners), 1981 (winners)
• Eisenhower Trophy: 1980 (team winners and individual winner)

Professional

• USA vs. Japan: 1983
• Ryder Cup: 1985, 1987, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004 (captain)
• Nissan Cup: 1986
• Presidents Cup: 1998 (withdrew), 2000 (winners)
• UBS Cup: 2003 (tie), 2004 (winners)