Floyd Doesn’t Want to Cool Off With Week Off : Golf: He didn’t commit to San Diego tournament, then finished in the desert with a pair of 64s.

Raymond Floyd has his clubs packed, his game grooved and no place to play.

He wants to play in San Diego this week, but can’t because he failed to commit to the tournament by last Friday night.

“That’s one of our rules,” said Floyd. “I’ll just pack it in and wait until Doral (in Florida).

“It’s too bad,” he said after making a run at the leaders of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic with a closing 64 at Indian Wells. “When you go 64-64, you kind of want to keep on going.”

Floyd isn’t afraid the magic will disappear when the tour hits Florida in three weeks.

“I’m playing as well as I’ve played in my life,” he said. “I can’t explain it. Everything just feels good. The only thing that hurt me a little was my putting.”

Floyd would have settled for a playoff Sunday. When he finished his round, he waited for the final group to play the 18th, just in case his 90-hole score of 27-under-par 333 would get him into a playoff.

Floyd didn’t expect it, but the 48-year-old veteran of 28 years on the PGA Tour knows that nothing is certain in golf.

It was no consolation that his score tied the previous tournament record set in 1985, the year Lanny Wadkins beat Craig Stadler in a playoff. He had to be satisfied with a fourth-place finish, a $52,800 check and the fact that he came close to the goal he had set for himself.

“I was thinking 62 before the round started,” he said. “On this course, I felt that I had a chance to do it. I shot a 64 yesterday (Saturday) and missed a lot of putts.

“I missed some today, too. Hey, I only missed the first green. When you hit all the greens, you’re going to have a chance to make some birdies. I missed one from five feet at the fourth, from 10 feet at the third and from 15 feet at the second. You never expect to make all of them, but when my putting is on, I feel like I should make those.”

Floyd’s birdies came in bunches. He birdied the fifth, sixth and seventh on the front side, then made four in a row beginning at the 11th hole.

When he reached the 18th, a 501-yard, par-five, he thought he needed an eagle to get into a playoff. After a big drive, he hit a three-wood from 240 yards into the stands to the right of the green.

After getting relief, Floyd hit a soft chip that he thought was going in the cup.

“It looked real good,” he said, “but it had just a little too much speed to take the break.”

He made the five-foot putt for birdie.

“That’s the kind you feel good about making under pressure,” Floyd said. “I just wish I had a chance to do it again this week.”