Raymond Floyd Signed Autographed 2005 Masters flag 1976 Masters Winner PGA OPEN

Description

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
in
Florida
, winning ,500 at the
St. Petersburg Open Invitational
,
[6]
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
in
1969
,
[7]
and the second came in
1976
at
The Masters
, by an eight-stroke margin and was won
wire-to-wire
.
[8]
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
.
[9]
Floyd's round of 63 was the lowest round in a major championship until 2017.
[10]
Floyd finished
1982
ranked second in
Mark McCormack's world golf rankings
, 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
at
Shinnecock Hills
.
[11]
After three rounds, he was tied for fifth place, three shots behind leader
Greg Norman
,
[12]
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.
[11]
[13]
(The record was
Ted Ray's
since
1920
, and is now held by
Hale Irwin
, a champion at age 45 in
1990
.)
[14]
The one major title that eluded Floyd, which prevented him from completing the career
grand slam
, was
The Open Championship
. His best result was in
1978
at
St Andrews
; he tied for second place, behind three-time winner
Jack Nicklaus
.
Floyd came very close to winning a second Green Jacket at the
1990 Masters
, where he lost in a playoff to
Nick Faldo
.
[15]
On the second playoff hole, Floyd pulled a 7-iron shot into the pond left of the 11th green.
[16]
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."
[17]
[18]
In
1992
, 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
in
1992
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
as the second player to achieve that feat. Floyd also won on the Senior PGA Tour (now
PGA Tour Champions
) 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 Ranking
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
, 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
in
1980
, where his successful birdie chip on the second hole of a
sudden-death playoff
defeated
Jack Nicklaus
.
[19]
[20]
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."
[21]
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."
[22]
[23]
This irritated European player
Nick Faldo
of England, who later said that he felt Floyd's comment was inappropriate.
[24]
Floyd was an assistant Ryder Cup captain in
2008
. On the eve of the Masters in
2010
, Floyd announced his retirement from competitive golf.
[4]
He was the honoree at Nicklaus'
Memorial Tournament
in
2013
.
[