GREAT AMERICAN TOURING PROFESSIONAL – RAYMOND FLOYD

Few competitors in golf history demonstrated such a look of concentration that it intimidated fellow-competitors, but Raymond Floyd is one of them. Known for his trance-like stare when he got into contention, Floyd rarely let victory slip away. Floyd was an excellent athlete in his youth, and was even offered a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians as a pitcher. Winning the National Jaycees Junior championship in golf in 1960 steered him permanently to that sport. Floyd had a somewhat unorthodox swing, taking the clubhead far inside and getting into a reverse-tilt position. His swing was no detriment to his career, for whatever he lacked in the tee-to-green game, he made up for around the greens. Floyd is known as one of the greatest short game players in history. A winner of four professional majors (2 PGA Championships, US Open, Masters), Floyd is one of only two golfers in Tour history to win in four different decades – the other being Sam Snead. Another distinction is that he is the only player so far to win on both the regular tour and the Champions Tour in the same season, in 1992. Floyd also has won every senior major championship played on US soil. He won 22 PGA Tour events in all, along with 14 Champions Tour wins. This past September, he lost his wife, Maria, to cancer. He is now retired from competitive golf, and lives in Southampton, New York, and West Palm Beach, Florida.