Raymond Loran Floyd (born September 4, 1942) is an American retired

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er who has won numerous tournaments on both the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

and Senior PGA Tour, including four majors and four senior majors. He was inducted into the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...

in 1989.

Early years

Floyd was born on September 4, 1942, in

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and was raised in Fayetteville. Floyd's father L.B. had a 21-year career in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, much of it at Fort Bragg as the golf pro at its enlisted-men's course. He also owned a nearby driving range where Raymond and younger sister Marlene, a future

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

pro, honed their games. From an early age, Floyd could play equally well left-handed, and used his skills to enhance his allowance, winning money from soldiers on the course, as well as civilians in nearby towns. Floyd graduated from Fayetteville High School (now named

Terry Sanford High School Terry Sanford High School (formerly known as Fayetteville Senior High School) is a public high school in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It is named after Terry Sanford, who was a North Carolina state senator, Governor of North Carolina, and Unite ...

) in 1960. Skilled in golf and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, he had an offer to pitch in the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

organization, but chose to attend the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to: Places Antarctica * Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia *Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area Canada * Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...

, but only stayed for a semester.

Professional career

After leaving college, Floyd turned professional in 1961, and quickly established himself on the PGA Tour. His first victory came two years later at age 20 in March

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, winning $3,500 at the St. Petersburg Open Invitational, the first of his 22 wins on the PGA Tour, including four major championships. Floyd won his first major title six years later at the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

in 1969, and the second came in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

, by an eight-stroke margin and was won wire-to-wire. He won his second PGA Championship in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, after shooting a brilliant opening round of 63 in sweltering hot conditions at

Southern Hills Country Club Southern Hills Country Club is a private golf and country club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. History The club was established in 1935 from land donated by multimillionaire oilman Waite Phillips (Frank Phillips, Waite's brother, was the namesake and fo ...

. Floyd's round of 63 was the lowest round in a major championship until 2017. Floyd finished

ranked second in

Mark McCormack's world golf rankings The McCormack rankings were unofficial world golf rankings published in Mark McCormack's ''World of Professional Golf Annual'' from 1968 to 1985, and were a forerunner of the current Official World Golf Ranking. Unlike their replacement they were ...

, behind only Tom Watson, who had won two majors that season; had those rankings been calculated over just two seasons, on a par with the system in place at the end of 2012, Floyd would have been ranked world number one in 1982, as he had earned more points from all events in total than Watson in both 1981 and 1982. Floyd's fourth and final major title came at the U.S. Open in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

at Shinnecock Hills. After three rounds, he was tied for fifth place, three shots behind leader

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...

, who held the 54-hole lead at all four majors in

. Norman faltered on Sunday with a 75 (+5), but Floyd shot 66 to win by two strokes and became the then-oldest U.S. Open champion by a few months at 43 years and 9 months. (The record was Ted Ray's since 1920, and is now held by

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. Op ...

, a champion at age 45 in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

.) The one major title that eluded Floyd, which prevented him from completing the career

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

, was

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

. His best result was in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

; he tied for second place, behind three-time winner

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

. Floyd came very close to winning a second Green Jacket at the 1990 Masters, where he lost in a playoff to

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo, (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. A top player of his era, renowned for his dedication to the game, he was ranked No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking for ...

. On the second playoff hole, Floyd pulled a 7-iron shot into the pond left of the 11th green. Afterward, he 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 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, Floyd again finished runner-up at The Masters, two strokes behind the winner Fred Couples. Floyd's final win on the PGA Tour came at the

Doral-Ryder Open The Doral Open was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in the southeastern United States. It was played annually for 45 seasons, from 1962 to 2006, on the "Blue Monster" course at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Doral, Florida, a suburb w ...

at age 49, making him one of the oldest players to win a PGA Tour event. The Doral-Ryder Open victory also gave him the distinction of winning PGA Tour events in four decades, joining

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (pronounced English_phonology">sni:d.html" ;"title="English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d">English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an ...

as the second player to achieve that feat. Floyd also won on the Senior PGA Tour (now

PGA Tour Champions PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many years ...

) later that season, making him the first player to win on both tours in the same year. At the end of

, Floyd was ranked 14th on the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

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 Senior Tour, with 14 wins between 1992 and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, 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 been at the

Doral-Eastern Open The Doral Open was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in the southeastern United States. It was played annually for 45 seasons, from 1962 to 2006, on the "Blue Monster" course at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Doral, Florida, a subur ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, 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 ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competiti ...

'' 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 The Vardon Trophy is awarded by the PGA of America to the PGA Tour's leader in scoring average. When the award was first given in 1937, it was awarded on the basis of a points system. No award was given from 1942–1946 due to World War II. In ...

for lowest scoring average on the

in 1983 and played for the U.S. on eight

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

teams ( 1969,

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, 1977,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, 1983,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, and 1993). Floyd was inducted into the

in 1989. He captained the U.S. Ryder Cup team at

The Belfry The Belfry is a golf resort and hotel in Wishaw, Warwickshire, close to Sutton Coldfield, England, located approximately 8 miles from the centre of Birmingham. It was acquired by KSL Capital Partners in August 2012. The resort has three golf ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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 of England, who later said that he felt Floyd's comment was inappropriate. Floyd was an assistant Ryder Cup captain in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. On the eve of the Masters in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, Floyd announced his retirement from competitive golf. He was the honoree at Nicklaus'

Memorial Tournament The Memorial Tournament is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on a Nicklaus-designed course at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The golf course passes through a large n ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Professional wins (63)

PGA Tour wins (22)

PGA Tour playoff record (5–10)

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

Canadian Tour wins (1)

Latin American wins (2)

Other wins (11)

Other playoff record (3–2)

Senior PGA Tour wins (14)

''*Note: The 1995 Emerald Coast Classic was shortened to 36 holes due to rain.'' Senior PGA Tour playoff record (3–1)

Other senior wins (12)

*1992 Fuji Electric Grandslam *1994

Diners Club Matches The Hyundai Team Matches were a series of golf tournaments from 1994 to 2002. The matches features four two-player teams from the LPGA Tour, the PGA Tour, and the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour). Within each tour, the teams competed in a m ...

(with

Dave Eichelberger Martin Davis Eichelberger, Jr. (born September 3, 1943) is an American professional golfer who has won several tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour levels. Eichelberger was born in Waco, Texas. He started in the game at the age of ...

Senior Skins Game The Wendy's Champions Skins Game was an unofficial golf tournament on the Champions Tour. It was played annually in January/February in Maui, Hawaii at Kaanapali Golf Resort (Royal Kaanapali Golf Course). Wendy's was the main sponsor of the tourname ...

*1995

, Senior Slam at Los Cabos, Lexus Challenge (with

Michael Chiklis Michael Charles Chiklis ( born August 30, 1963) is an American actor, television director, television producer and musician. He is best known for his role as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama ''The S ...

) *1996

, Senior Slam at Los Cabos *1997

, Lexus Challenge (with

William Devane William Joseph Devane (born September 5, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Greg Sumner on the primetime soap opera '' Knots Landing'' (1983–1993) and as James Heller on the Fox serial dramas '' 24'' (2001–2010) and '' ...

) *1998

*2006

Wendy's Champions Skins Game The Wendy's Champions Skins Game was an unofficial golf tournament on the Champions Tour. It was played annually in January/February in Maui, Hawaii at Kaanapali Golf Resort (Royal Kaanapali Golf Course). Wendy's was the main sponsor of the tournam ...

(with

Dana Quigley Dana C. Quigley (born April 14, 1947) is an American professional golfer. Quigley was born in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1969 and turned professional in 1971. Quigley's career in regular tourn ...

)

Major championships

Wins (4)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut (3rd round cut in 1984 Open Championship)
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 24 (1972 PGA – 1979 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (1976 Open Championship – 1977 Masters)

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (4)

¹Floyd birdied the first extra hole.

U.S. national team appearances

Professional *

: 1969 (winners),

(winners), 1977 (winners),

(winners), 1983 (winners),

, 1989 (non-playing captain),

(winners), 1993 (winners) *

Dunhill Cup The Alfred Dunhill Cup was a team golf tournament which ran from 1985 to 2000, sponsored by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. It was for three-man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country, and was promoted as the "World Team Championshi ...

Nissan Cup Nissan Cup (french: Coupe Nissan) was an ice hockey tournament for men's national teams, which was played in Switzerland between 1988 Nissan Cup, 1988-1994 Nissan Cup (November), 1994. Originally played in November, the tournament was later moved ...

: 1985 (winners) *

UBS Cup The UBS Cup was a team golf tournament contested by the United States and a team representing the "Rest of the World" which ran from 2001 to 2004. In 2001 and 2002 it was called the UBS Warburg Cup. Six golfers on each side had to be 50 or over, and ...

: 2001 (winners), 2002 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2004 (winners) *

Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge The Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge was an unofficial golf event held in November at the Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada. The tournament was a unique stroke play event, and, as the name suggests, pitted three teams, with three members per team, ...

(representing Senior PGA Tour): 1992 (PGA Tour), 1993 (winners), 1994, 1995 (winners), 1996

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Floyd, Raymond American male golfers North Carolina Tar Heels men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Winners of men's major golf championships Winners of senior major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from North Carolina Golfers from Florida People from Fort Bragg, North Carolina Sportspeople from Fayetteville, North Carolina Sportspeople from Palm Beach, Florida 1942 births Living people

Early years

Professional career

Professional wins (63)

PGA Tour wins (22)

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

Canadian Tour wins (1)

Latin American wins (2)

Other wins (11)

Senior PGA Tour wins (14)

Other senior wins (12)

Major championships

Wins (4)

Results timeline

Summary

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (4)

U.S. national team appearances

See also

References

External links