GOLF / TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS : Odds High on a Floyd Double

Raymond Floyd will be trying to accomplish the ultimate double in golf when the Infiniti Tournament of Champions begins today at the La Costa Resort: win the PGA Tour and seniors events.

It’s a unique opportunity for Floyd, who has qualified to play in two tournaments at the same time.

Asked to estimate the odds for winning both tournaments, Floyd said:

“I think in the regular tour event, I would be about 15 to 20 to 1. In the senior tournament I would be one of two, or three favorites. You put them together and the odds graduate pretty rapidly.

“It’s something that can be done. But to win (both) would take a great effort on my part.”

Since he’s a trail blazer this week, Floyd was asked if there is inordinate pressure on him.

“I hope not.” he said. “It’s hard to answer a question like that because it has never happened.

“I’m playing in the regular tour Tournament of Champions. The senior event is taking place from the same tees. I feel if I can be competitive in the regular event, I should have a very good senior side.”

Floyd, who turned 50 on Sept. 4, won three senior events in 1992. He also won the Doral Open on the PGA Tour. His combined official earnings were $1,178,909.

At an age when other players are not competitive on the regular tour, Floyd has the best of two worlds.

“What keeps the fire going? I really don’t know,” Floyd said. “But I hope I’m the first person to see (when) I don’t have the burning desire. I’ve been lucky with my health, and I haven’t had any nagging injuries.”

Floyd plans to play in the major events on both tours. He estimates his schedule already includes 15 or 16 events, and he won’t play many more than that.

“It’s very hard to get goal oriented until I can make the decision as to which direction I want to go in,” he said. “Realistically, if I were to elect the senior side, my goals should be very high. I would want to be the leading money winner, win the most events, win the majors.

“But I don’t think it’s realistic to set goals on the regular tour because that’s a much more difficult place to win.”

He added that if he elects to spend more time on the regular tour, his No. 1 goal is to make the Ryder Cup team.

Floyd is in his 31st year of competitive tour golf, and he said the guideline to winning is more mental than physical.

“I’m playing guys who are much younger, who haven’t made their marks and they are out there trying to make them. I’ve made mine,” he said.

“There is nothing that a 50-year-old can’t do in golf that a 35-year-old can’t do. He should have a lot of advantages because of the experience.

“Certainly, I can’t hit is as long and physically I’m not as strong. But we aren’t hitting, or running, or throwing. We aren’t doing things that are that physical in this game.”

Deane Beman, the PGA Tour commissioner, said that Floyd has always had talent, but he is more focused now.

Floyd said that before he was married to his wife Maria in December of 1973, he went through peaks and valleys in his career.

“I would go through the motions and run around liked a ship without a rudder,” Floyd said. “Then, my manager, or banker would say, ‘We’re getting a little short,’ and I’d get refocused again. I think it was youth and immaturity.

“I’ll never forget a statement that (Maria) made when she said: ‘If you don’t like to play golf, you’re a young man. You could go to another career.’ That was like hitting me on the head with a hammer because I never dreamed that I would do anything but play golf. But that woke me and that statement still hangs in my mind.

“So from that time on I dedicated myself to golf, meaning if I was going to play, I was going to give it 100%.”

Floyd will be paired with Fred Couples today. Floyd has been Couples’ mentor to an extent as Arnold Palmer was an influence on Floyd.

“Raymond and I are pretty close,” Palmer said recently. “I feel his potential is just about unlimited. I haven’t seen Raymond play any better in his career than he’s playing now. He could surpass all the senior records that have been set. Jack Nicklaus could have, too, if he had devoted himself to it.

“I think it would be wonderful and encouraging to every senior in the world if Raymond Floyd were to win both divisions of the Tournament of Champions. It wouldn’t be embarrassing to the regular tour at all.

“Raymond is a very determined young man. I say ‘young’ with some reservation.”

For sure, at 50 he’s young--and old--enough to be competitive in two events simultaneously.

Golf Notes

Intermittent to heavy rain is forecast for today. . . . Raymond Floyd said money provides only half of his motivation. “If I were strictly motivated by the dollar value, I probably wouldn’t even consider playing the regular tour,” he said. . . . Commissioner Deane Beman gave his annual state of golf message Wednesday and said that the tour is prospering despite economic conditions. . . . When told that he would be paired with Floyd, Fred Couples said: “Oh yeah. That will be fun.” Said Floyd: “That’s pretty expressive for Freddie.” . . . Floyd’s chances of winning the senior event are enhanced with the absence of Lee Trevino (thumb surgery), Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.