Raymond Floyd - Professional Career

Professional Career

Floyd was born at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina. He turned professional in 1961, and quickly established himself on the PGA Tour, with his first victory coming at the St. Petersburg Open Invitational in 1963. He went on to win 22 times on the PGA Tour.

Floyd's wins include four major championships. In 1969, he won his first major title at the PGA Championship. His second major victory came in 1976 at The Masters, with Floyd winning by eight shots. In 1982, Floyd won his second PGA Championship after shooting a brilliant opening round of 63 in sweltering hot conditions at Southern Hills Country Club. Floyd's round of 63 is, to date, still tied for the lowest round in a major championship. Floyd finished 1982 ranked second in Mark McCormack's world golf rankings, behind only Tom Watson who had won two majors that season.

Floyd's fourth and final major championship victory came in 1986 at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. At the start of the final round, Floyd was three shots behind the leader Greg Norman. In the final round, Norman faltered and Floyd shot a fine round of 66 to win the U.S. Open by two strokes, becoming the then oldest U.S. Open champion at the age of 43. (The record was later broken by Hale Irwin at the age of 45 in 1990.)

The one major title that has eluded Floyd, which has prevented him from achieving the career grand slam, is The Open Championship. Floyd came closest to winning The Open in 1978 at St Andrews, when he finished tied for 2nd place, behind Jack Nicklaus.

Floyd came very close to becoming the first player to have won major championships in four different decades, most notably at The Masters in 1990, where he lost in a playoff to Nick Faldo. Floyd pulled a 7-iron shot into a pond to the left of the green on the second extra playoff hole. Floyd later said: "This is the most devastating thing that's ever happened to me in my career. I've had a lot of losses, but nothing like this."

In 1992, Floyd again finished runner-up at The Masters, finishing two strokes behind the winner Fred Couples. Floyd's final win on the PGA Tour came at the Doral-Ryder Open in 1992 at the age of 49, making him one of the oldest players to win a PGA Tour event. Floyd also won on the Champions Tour later that season, making him the first player to win on both tours in the same year.

At the end of 1992, Floyd was ranked 14th on the Official World Golf Rankings at the age of 50, one of the highest positions ever attained by a player of that age. Floyd's successful run continued on the Champions Tour, with 14 wins between 1992 and 2000, including four senior majors and two Senior Tour Championships.

In addition to Floyd's victories on the PGA and Champions Tours, he won at least 24 additional tournaments around the world, taking his total victory tally to at least 60 events. While active, Floyd was considered by most golf experts to be the best at chipping the golf ball. He holed many shots from just off the green, the most famous may have come at the 1980 Doral-Eastern Open where his successful birdie chip on the second hole of a sudden death playoff defeated Jack Nicklaus.

On his decision to continue playing professional golf on the Senior Tour, Floyd spoke with Golf Digest and mused aloud: "Why do I enjoy golf after 31 years, going out there and doing things that are necessary to be competitive—having practice, having to work, having to dedicate yourself? I guess it comes down to the competition. My personality...I'm not going to play if I'm not competitive."

Floyd won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average on the PGA Tour in 1983 and played for the U.S. on eight Ryder Cup teams (1969, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1991, and 1993).

Floyd was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1989. He captained the U.S. Ryder Cup team at The Belfry in England in 1989. At a gala dinner held before the start of the matches, Floyd famously introduced his American side as "The 12 greatest players in the world." This irritated European player Nick Faldo who later said that he felt Floyd's comment wasn't appropriate.

Floyd was an assistant Ryder Cup captain in 2008.

On April 6, 2010, on the eve of the 2010 Masters Tournament, Floyd announced his retirement from competitive golf.