Sutton came out of the gate in a flurry, winning seven times in his first five years on the PGA Tour. In 1983, he won both the Tournament Players Championship and the PGA Championship to lead the money list and was dubbed the "Bear-apparent". After 1986, Sutton's fortunes fell off, reaching a low point in the 1992 season when he earned less than $40,000. Sutton would regain some of his lost form in the years that followed, topping off his resurgence with a win at the B.C. Open in 1995. Sutton was the U.S. amateur champion in 1980 and a two-time member of the Walker Cup team for the U.S.