MILWAUKEE — Forget the record. Jeff Sluman was thinking only of another Greater Milwaukee Open title.
"I just wanted to win by a shot," he said. "That's all I cared about."
Sluman closed with a 3-under-par 68 Sunday for his second GMO title. He finished four strokes ahead of Tim Herron (66) and Steve Lowery (70).
His 23-under 261 total was one stroke shy of Loren Roberts' 72-hole GMO record set two years ago.
Sluman, who also won at Brown Deer Park in 1998, began the day at 20 under, well within reach of Roberts' mark. But with nobody making a charge, he thought it foolish to play aggressively.
"I don't think anybody really cares either way as long as they give you a big check and call you champion at the end of the day," Sluman said. "You get caught up looking at records and things like that, a lot of times somebody will sneak in the back door."
In any case, Sluman recorded the lowest winning score on tour this year.
Last year, Sluman led the GMO entering the final day but finished 10th.
"I had a lot of friends and family up from Chicago to cheer me on," he said. "And after feeling last year like I disappointed them, I was certainly glad to get it done this year."
After bogeying the second hole, Sluman made four straight birdies, then played it safe for his sixth PGA Tour victory and the biggest paycheck of his career, $558,000 of the $3.1 million purse.
Provo's Dan Forsman shot a final round 69, to finish tied for 12th place and earned $60,760.
After birdies on Nos. 3-6, Sluman wasn't nearly the aggressor he had been all weekend.
"It's funny how your mind kind of goes because nobody had really made a huge run and I had a four- and five-shot lead at various times," he said. "And I just didn't want to make a mistake."
So he quit attacking the pins as he had in earlier rounds of 64-66-63.
"It worked out pretty well," he said.
Kenny Perry (65) took fourth, one stroke ahead of Joey Sindelar (65), Greg Chalmers (69) and Wisconsin native J.P. Hayes (67), who finished six strokes back.
Sluman began the day with a two-stroke lead over Lowery. On the second hole, he recorded just his second bogey of the tournament. He followed with four straight birdies and made the turn at 23 under with Lowery four strokes behind.
Lowery briefly injected some intrigue when he cut the deficit in half on the 10th hole, a 447-yard, par-4, with a birdie to go with Sluman's bogey. But he negated his gain with bogeys on Nos. 11 and 13.
"That's not a good time to do that," Lowery said.
Even when Sluman drove into the trees on the right side on Nos. 16 and 18, he saved par both times after pitches to the fairway.
John Turcott, a senior at the University of Wisconsin, tied for 56th. It's the best finish by an amateur on the tour this year.
SCOTTISH OPEN: Eduardo Romero of Argentina took advantage of a late collapse from Fredrik Jacobson to win the Scottish Open in a playoff and become the third-oldest winner on the European tour.
Romero closed with a 1-under 70 and forced the playoff by making a 10-foot par putt on the final hole at Loch Lomond.
BUY.COM DAYTON OPEN: At Centerville, Ohio, Jason Buha never lost the lead in the final day of the Buy.Com Dayton Open, shooting a 6-under 66 to finish three strokes up for his first win.