The Virginia Golfer Conversation
A Purposeful
Presence
With plentiful experience and
wisdom, Ryder Cup veteran
Raymond Floyd looks to help
the U.S. to victory at this
year’s matches
Interviewed by SCOTT MICHAUX
Floyd, a Tar Heel native, will turn 72 three
weeks before joining the United States team
as one of Tom Watson’s assistant captains for
the Ryder Cup Matches set for Sept. 26-28
at Gleneagles in Scotland. It will be the 11th
American team in six different decades that
Floyd has been associated with as either
player (eight), captain (one) or assistant
captain (two). Only one of the previous 10
teams he was a part of lost (1985), though the
1989 squad he captained at The Belfry tied,
allowing Europe to retain the cup. In recent
years, though, the U.S. has lost five of the
past six matches dating back to 2002.
Inducted into the World Golf Hall of
28
Fame in 1989, Floyd’s professional success
has spanned 37 years through five decades.
He won his first professional event at
the St. Petersburg Open in 1963 and his
last in 2000 at the Ford Senior Players
Championship. He won a Masters, U.S.
Open and two PGAs. Floyd nearly became
the only player to ever win majors in four
different decades with a pair of runnerup finishes at Augusta National in 1990
and ’92.
These days, he and Watson are preparing
to bring a winning spirit back to the
American Ryder Cup team.
VIRGINIA GOLFER: How much does it
mean to you to be back involved in the
Ryder Cup Matches again?
RAYMOND FLOYD: Well, it was obviously
pretty surprising. It’s not anything I
expected. When I walked away and retired
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 4
(in 2009), I haven’t played and removed
myself from golf. All of a sudden, Tom
(Watson) caught me by surprise when he
asked me to be an assistant. It didn’t take me
long to give it thought. But I was certainly
taken aback by it and now I’m very excited
to be a part of it again.
VG: What is it like to be part of the Ryder
Cup now as opposed to when you started
in 1969?
RF: The hugeness and significance of it—
it’s just incredible how it’s grown. It’s the
golf event in the world every other year. It’s
certainly a huge thing now relative to the
early years.
VG: The idea behind making Tom
Watson the captain this time around
was to bring back some of that winning
fire the U.S. used to have. How has his
w w w. v s g a . o r g
ANGUS MURRAY/GETTY IMAGES
F
Few players in golf
have ever been as
relevant for as long
as Raymond Floyd.