Ray Floyd is an American retired golfer…..who has won numerous tournaments on both the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour (the Champions Tour)….which includes four majors and three senior majors. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1989.
After leaving college, Floyd turned professional in 1961….while quickly establishing himself on the PGA Tour…..with his first victory coming two years later at the age 20 in March 1963 in Florida after winning $3,500 at the St. Petersburg Open Invitational….which was the first of his 22 wins on the PGA Tour while including four major championships….as Floyd won his first major title six years later at the PGA Championship in 1969….then he won his second major in 1976 at The Masters….which was a wire-to-wire eight-stroke victory…..and that is when he won his second PGA Championship in 1982….after shooting a brilliant opening round of 63 in sweltering hot conditions at Southern Hills Country Club….as Floyd’s round of 63 was the lowest round in a major championship until 2017. Floyd finished 1982 ranked second in Mark McCormack’s world golf rankings….and 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 # 1 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 at Shinnecock Hills…..when after three rounds, he was tied for fifth place, three shots behind leader Greg Norman….who held the 54-hole lead at all four majors in 1986. 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 nine months….which was the record Ted Ray held since 1920….and is now held by Hale Irwin….who become a champion at age 45 in 1990.
