Bruce Fleisher


Bruce Lee Fleisher is an American professional golfer.

Early years and amateur career

Fleisher was born in Union City, Tennessee, and is Jewish. He and his wife Wendy live in the Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, area.

Amateur career

Fleisher became involved in golf at age seven by working as a caddie with his two brothers. Fleisher attended Miami-Dade Junior College and Furman University. In 1968 at age 19, he became the third-youngest player to win the U.S. Amateur. He also was the low amateur at the 1969 Masters Tournament. He turned professional in 1969.

Professional career

Fleisher won both individual and team gold medals in golf at the 1969 Maccabiah Games.
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 has been much more successful on the Senior PGA Tour with 18 wins, including one senior major, the 2001 U.S. Senior Open. 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. He also has one win on the European Seniors Tour, which came in 2000 at the Irish Seniors Open.
He served as head coach for the USA Open Golf Team at the 1989 Maccabiah Games and the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Amateur wins (1)

PGA Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11991New England Classic Ian Baker-FinchWon with birdie on seventh extra hole

Latin American and Caribbean wins (5)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1Feb 7, 1999Royal Caribbean Classic−11 2 strokes Isao Aoki
2Feb 14, 1999American Express Invitational−13 3 strokes Larry Nelson
3Apr 25, 1999The Home Depot Invitational−11 1 stroke Terry Dill, Jim Holtgrieve
4Jun 13, 1999BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland−16 1 stroke Al Geiberger
5Aug 8, 1999Lightpath Long Island Classic−10 2 strokes Allen Doyle
6Oct 10, 1999The Transamerica−17 1 stroke Allen Doyle
7Oct 24, 1999EMC Kaanapali Classic−17 1 stroke Allen Doyle
8Feb 6, 2000Royal Caribbean Classic 30 pts 2 points Vicente Fernández
9Feb 20, 2000GTE Classic−16 4 strokes Dana Quigley
10May 7, 2000The Home Depot Invitational −13 Playoff Hubert Green
11Jul 30, 2000Lightpath Long Island Classic −18 2 strokes Dana Quigley
12Apr 22, 2001Las Vegas Senior Classic−8 3 strokes José María Cañizares, Vicente Fernández,
Walter Hall, Hale Irwin,
Doug Tewell, Larry Nelson
13May 6, 2001The Home Depot Invitational −15 3 strokes John Bland
14Jul 1, 2001U.S. Senior OpenE 1 stroke Isao Aoki, Gil Morgan
15Feb 24, 2002RJR Championship−8 1 stroke Hale Irwin, Gary McCord
16Feb 23, 2003Verizon Classic −8 1 stroke Hale Irwin
17Feb 8, 2004Royal Caribbean Golf Classic −6 1 stroke Dana Quigley
18May 2, 2004Bruno's Memorial Classic−16 7 strokes Bruce Lietzke, D. A. Weibring

Champions Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11999Southwestern Bell Dominion José María Cañizares, John MahaffeyMahaffey won with birdie on second extra hole
Fleisher eliminated with birdie on first hole
22000The Home Depot Invitational Hubert GreenWon with birdie on third extra hole
32001State Farm Senior Classic Allen DoyleLost to par on third extra hole

European Senior Tour wins (1)

Playoff record

Ben Hogan Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
11990Ben Hogan Gateway Open John Daly, Ted TrybaTryba won with eagle on first extra hole

Results in major championships

LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (1)

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
Professional