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By Greg Hardwig
Naples Daily News
November 14, 2004
Greg Norman tries to take care of as many of his friends as possible at The Franklin Templeton Shootout. If one of the players in the field wants to play with one of the other players, he tries to accommodate them.
But, hey, being a host of anything can be hard.
There's always somebody at the wedding reception, the high school reunion or wherever, sitting at a table where they don't know anybody. There's the uncomfortable, tense moment until hopefully somebody breaks the ice.
 | | Dubbed "The Odd Couple" before last year's victory, Sluman and Kuehne have found success in the Shootout format. |
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Last year, that was the case with Hank Kuehne and Jeff Sluman. The two knew of one another and not much more than that. They didn't have much in common except for the same birthday, eerily enough September 11th.
Now they're good buddies, and why not? Winning a golf tournament together will do that for you.
"Jeff and I always have a good time," said Kuehne, who at 29 is 18 years younger than his playing partner.
Today they'll try to become the second team in the Shootout's 16-year history to repeat as champions.
And you know what? They do have something in common that goes beyond the Shootout. They've rebounded from adversity.
Sluman barely played his senior year at Florida State. He worked on his game and turned pro anyway. It took him six tries to get his card, and he likely would've quit if he hadn't come through that final time.
"I know people are scratching their heads back where I grew up. 'What's this guy thinking about, turning pro?' " said Sluman, who had a serious kidney illness as a youngster that stunted his growth.
The 47-year-old has won one major (the 1988 PGA Championship), five other events and finished 40th or higher on the money list 12 times in the last 18 years.
He's 16th on the career money list.
"I had a dream and I worked really hard," said Sluman, who credited swing coach Craig Harmon and his family for their support.
"It just kind of goes to show you what a lot of belief in yourself and hard work and having a great coach and a great family in back of you can do."
Kuehne is part of one of the families in golf. Sister Kelli, a two-time U.S.
Women's Amateur champion, plays on the LPGA Tour. Brother Trip was the runner-up to Tiger Woods in the 1994 U.S. Amateur.
Kuehne won the 1998 Amateur, so his pedigree may be a little better than Sluman's. But injuries and a battle with alcoholism stemmed his progress.
Kuehne started to turn the corner last year, earning his PGA Tour card after beginning the year with no status. He did well after receiving a couple of sponsor exemptions and took off from there. Winning the Shootout was a bonus.
Having someone like Sluman can be a good influence on Kuehne, on and off the golf course. Sluman is known for his pranks -- he once Superglued the pockets on good friend Dudley Hart's golf bag -- and good relations with other players. After all, he was Jack Nicklaus' pick to be a captain's assistant at last year's Presidents Cup.
In this event, Sluman's consistency off the tee allows Kuehne to relax and rip his bombs. And then they can drop some bombs on one another in interviews afterward.
In the better ball format, once someone sinks a birdie putt, the other player just picks up no matter how much closer his ball may have been.
As Kuehne was running down their birdies for the media, he playfully added what he had left for a birdie putt on the holes Sluman made his birdies on. Then Kuehne "forgot" to mention Sluman's potential birdie putt was closer on one hole.
"He's inserting himself and he's throwing me under the bus," Sluman protested.
Then Kuehne recounted Sluman's next birdie putt. "It was a won-derful, beau-tiful stroke, right in the middle," Kuehne deadpanned.
"I wouldn't trade him for anybody," Kuehne said.
"Keep talking," Sluman said.
"Keep talking.
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