Scott Gump manufactured his finest season on PGA TOUR in 1999 with career-best four top-10 finishes, including his third career runner-up finish...broke into top-40 on TOUR money list for first time with career-best $954,859...highlight of season came at THE PLAYERS Championship, where steady rounds under tough playing conditions produced a solo second place...shot 72-74-70-71 to finish two strokes back of David Duval...was nine strokes out of the lead through 36 holes but battled to within three of Duval through 54...final-round 71 one of only five rounds under par Sunday...prior to THE PLAYERS Championship, opened 68-67 for share of 36-hole lead at Touchstone Energy Tucson Open...closed 74-70 for T7...third top-10 came at MCI Classic where 72-69-65-72 good for T10...fourth top-10 at Buick Challenge...shot 67-71-70-69 to finish T6...ranked eighth in driving accuracy percentage (77.0).
Prior to 1999, best year on TOUR in 1998...for the second time in career, recorded a runner-up finish and for first time in career broke into top-75 position on TOUR money list with $402,092, good for 73rd spot...opened with rounds of 65-67-64 to trail by one through 54 holes at Quad City Classic...closing 68 left him one stroke behind Steve Jones, who finished with 66...solo second matched best previous finish on TOUR--a T2 at 1991 International...a week before, opened 68-62 at Canon Greater Hartford Open...62 tied TPC at River Highlands course record...held 36-hole lead but closed 72-74 for T36...second top-10 a T8 at Westin Texas Open...week featured third-round 65, which lifted him into three-way tie for second, one stroke behind 54-hole leader Hal Sutton...closed with 71...in 1991, posted first second place finish at the International...recorded five birdies and three bogeys in final round to earn seven points and tie for second behind Jose Maria Olazabal...had one other top-10 finish that year--T5 at Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic--and went on to finish 80th on money list...tied for sixth at 1992 Federal Express St. Jude Classic...lost PGA TOUR card after 1993 season, but excelled on BUY.COM TOUR in 1994, winning Monterey Open and Greater Greenville Classic...second-place finish on money list earned return to PGA TOUR in 1995...T10 at 1995 Motorola Western Open was most recent top-10 finish...consistent in 1997, making 22 cuts in 33 starts, including six top-25 finishes...T13 at Tucson Chrysler Classic best of those.
His best PGA Tour finish for 2001 was a tie for 35th at the John Deere Classic. On the Buy.com Tour, he tied for 11th at the Arkansas Classic and he tied for 19th at the Samsung Canadian PGA Championship. In 2000, he tied for 19th at the Tampa Bay Classic.
1999 Was His Best Year on the Tour
