Golf: The Confidence Man

(2 of 2)

The disturbances on the National Cash Register links demonstrated that society's noisiest problems have caught up with the sedate world of professional golf. The final round of the National Airlines Open in Miami last March was marred by demonstrations of striking airline mechanics—National's very own. Like the group at Dayton, they timed their brief appearance for maximum coverage by network TV and the press. In April, rednecks at the Greater Greensboro (N.C.) Open repeatedly shouted, "Miss it, nigger!" at Charlie Sifford, one of the tour's black regulars.

Playing Safe. Nothing seems able to distract Ray Floyd from his winning ways. Representing the Lake Havasu Country Club in Arizona, he won the Greater Jacksonville Open in March. In July, he finished four strokes ahead of the pack in the American Golf Classic, lowering the tournament record by 7 strokes at Akron's forbidding Firestone Country Club course. "I played so well, it scared me," he says. So far this season, he has played well enough to win $109,470 in competition.

That is a large prize for someone whose tournament regime is somewhat less than rigorous. "I get to the course about an hour before a match," says Floyd. "I like to hit for about 30 minutes, putt for ten and then relax. I try to get at least six hours' sleep." There were times earlier in Floyd's continuing career as a bachelor golfer when six hours was about the total for the week. It was not the girl chasing that wore him out, he insists, "it was the girl catching." His longstanding fondness for Scotch resulted in some memorable mornings after. "I'd go out there and shoot a 66 and feel so bad it was unbelievable," he recalls. During the 1966 U.S. Open in San Francisco, he found a topless go-go joint he liked so much that he bought into it. "I never trained, never was serious, never worked on my game," he says. He admits that he is no more conscientious today.

Then what caused the sudden turnabout in Floyd's fortunes? "All of a sudden I just felt it," he says. His style is strictly "power school," and has not changed an iota this year. "I can hit long when I want to," he explains. "I like to go for the flag. I've never played safe in my life." Never? Well, in the last round of the P.G.A., he began babying the ball to protect his lead and wound up with a mediocre 74. "I've never played with that big a lead before," Floyd apologizes. "But I know one thing. I'll never try to play it safe again. It's not my style."