Four-time major winner Floyd calls it a career

Raymond Floyd, whose 22 career PGA Tour victories included the 1976 Masters, two PGA Championships and the U.S. Open, announced Tuesday that he has retired from competitive golf and will not compete in his 45th Masters this week.

Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- When Raymond Floyd dropped out of the University of North Carolina after just a semester to join the Army, the teenager was sent to Fort Gordon for basic training and to fulfill his six months of active duty.

Not surprisingly, the first weekend the aspiring golf pro had off he headed to nearby Augusta National.

"And you know the story, you go up to the gate, and, 'Sorry, sir, you can't come on these grounds,'" a reflective Floyd said. "So ... I never came in here until my first golf tournament."

This week would have marked Floyd’s 45th start in the Masters, which he won in 1976 –- but he will not be competing for the first since 1965. Floyd, who counts four majors among his 22 PGA TOUR victories, has decided to retire.

"I don't feel like it's the end of an era,'" the 67-year-old said. "I've always enjoyed it. It has the fondest of memories, all of my 44 appearances. It's a place that as a youngster, it was always my goal to play here. Then it became a goal to win here. It was my darling wife's first golf tournament ever; I brought her here the year before we were married. Our children have been to every Masters since they have been born.
   
"So you can see the affection that not only I have but my family has for the golf tournament and for the Augusta National. It's been a real special 44 years."

Floyd will continue attending the tournament and "enjoy walking around here with my jacket on," he said. Floyd is also looking forward to competing in Wednesday's Par 3 Contest -- "I can reach most of those holes off the tee," he said, chuckling as he poked fun at himself. 

Floyd, who also finished second three times at Augusta National, said he has toyed with his decision to stop playing in the Masters for the last year. He hasn't made a cut since 1999, when he tied for 39th, and hasn't broken par since the last round in 1996.

"It's getting to a stage for me that I felt like I wanted to leave with really fond memories of the golf course and the way I played the golf course through all of these years, and I'm not competitive there now," Floyd said. "And I didn't want to go out and embarrass myself; or play the best and make a whole lot of putts so I could shoot in the 70s.
   
"I toyed with it, but I have a good feeling that I've made the right decision."

Floyd, a 14-time winner on the Champions Tour, says he is "probably retired" from all tournament golf. He wouldn't rule out competing in a special event like a Skins Game or the Father/Son, but he won't ever play again on a regular basis.

"I'm very comfortable even in the terms that I'm speaking about playing in the Masters; I feel that same way about tournament golf," Floyd said. "This is 47 years since I started. I started at 20. So I played a lot of golf, and I'm very comfortable with the decision that I'm no longer a touring golf professional."