Floyd Feels Chipper After The Tradition : Senior golf: He beats Douglass with a near-perfect shot on the first hole of sudden death to win tournament.

Raymond Floyd is generally considered the best chipper in golf. After almost losing The Tradition to a fabulous chip by Dale Douglass on Sunday, Floyd won a playoff with a near-perfect one of his own.

Floyd had a closing four-under-par 68 for a 271 total. Douglass, trailing by four shots early in the last round, rallied with a 66 to force the playoff.

On the Senior PGA Tour, the 18th always is the first playoff hole. On the 6,869-yard Cochise Course at Desert Mountain, the final hole is a 531-yard par five. That gave the advantage to Floyd, one of the really long hitters in the 50-and-over group.

He and Douglass had broken a tie with Jim Colbert late in the round, and came to the 72nd hole even. Douglass, 57, the oldest of the contenders, came as close to winning as possible with his chip from above the green after his second shot went beyond the green.

Floyd was in the middle of the green in two, about 45 feet away, almost a sure bet for a birdie. Floyd putted to within three feet. Douglass knew he had to land his chip on the fringe in the high grass and have it roll down to the flag.

“I knew it had to be a near-perfect shot,” the winter resident of nearby Paradise Valley said. “I hit it just right and thought it was in to win the tournament. But it hit the flag and came out.”

Given a reprieve, Floyd made the most of it while playing the same hole in the playoff. Both missed the green to the right, trying to reach it in two shots.

But Douglass was about 10 yards behind Floyd and facing a much more difficult shot. He tried the same chip shot he had before, but this time the chip failed to clear the heavy grass. When Floyd’s chip came to rest 18 inches from the cup, it was all over and all he had left to do was collect the $127,500 first prize.

“Dale was absolutely robbed of the victory when the ball didn’t stay in the cup for the eagle on the 72nd hole,” Floyd said. “Although I didn’t play my best, I liked the way I went about winning it. After all, Dale played the last nine in 31, including an eagle on 13 that made all three of us 15 under.

“I pitched the ball and chipped it very well all week. It should help going to the Masters next week.”

Floyd, who either bogeyed or birdied nine of the last 10 holes, including the playoff, actually lost the lead he had held for most of the tournament when he bogeyed the 14th. That put both Douglass and Colbert ahead of him. Douglass took the lead with a birdie on 15 with an approach to within five feet on the par four.

With both Colbert and Floyd in the rough around the green on the 413-yard 16th, Douglass appeared to be in position to win. He had only a four-foot putt to make for a birdie. But, from 30 feet away, Floyd hit a perfect chip and in the hole it went. When Douglass missed, they were tied again.

It was a day of near-misses for Douglass. On the first hole, his two-footer veered near the cup. He also missed a 10-footer at No. 4.

Except for the majors, Floyd will play mostly on the senior tour from now on. Who can blame him? In 24 senior events, he has won six and finished second six other times. His average earning per event is $70,000.

While Floyd thinks he may be ready for Augusta, so does Jack Nicklaus, who has won the Masters six times. Nicklaus came here acting like a lost soul, but his teacher, Jim Flick, worked with him all week. He improved to a 68 Sunday, finished 10 under and left in good spirits.

“I feel my game is coming around,” he said. “We’ll find out for sure this week.”