2015 World Golf Hall of Fame class rights past wrongs
Halls of fame are awkward things.
Of course they induct the obvious candidates, your greaest-of-all-time contenders and seminal figures.
What they’re really charged with doing isn’t recognizing those who push the ceiling higher. Rather, they’re expected to identify a floor of greatness. What’s good enough to be considered great?
That’s been the trouble with the World Golf Hall of Fame since its creation. For one, the Mount Rushmore of the sport had been identified and mostly solidified before the dawn of Tiger Woods. That left filling the void of true, all-time greats with varying degrees of memorable players: from your almost-greats like Nick Faldo to your fan-favorite greats like Fred Couples. Ex-presidents of the United States even got in the Hall of Fame in what had become a convoluted, almost meaningless election process.
Credit the World Golf Hall of Fame for recognizing it needed to take a break. It skipped an induction in 2014, revamping its selection criteria and election process. While the efficacy of the process is open to debate, the class of 2015 rights some wrongs in the old way of doing things.
Mark O’Meara’s 1998 season was enough to get him into the Hall of Fame. He won the Masters with a 72nd-hole birdie, then took the Open Championship at Birkdale. He also won the 1979 U.S. Amateur. He should have been in by now.
Laura Davies should have been in the Hall of Fame, too, but her absence was because she hadn’t earned enough points to qualify under the LPGA’s strict rubric. She had been shy of qualifying by two points, earned with either a fifth major title or two more LPGA wins, since 2001. Just when it looked like it wasn’t going to happen for the once-dominant Davies, the rules changed in her favor.
Aussie David Graham is a two-time major champion, taking the 1979 PGA and ’81 U.S. Open at Merion, winning near Philly with one of those mythical rounds where he had a birdie putt on every hole en route to a clinching 67. An international schedule that saw him win on six continents didn’t jibe with the qualifications to get on the ballot.
And last, but not least, is course architect A.W. Tillinghast. Tillinghast, who died in 1942, was the genius behind over 250 golf courses, including classics like Winged Foot, Baltusrol and San Francisco Golf Club. His omission was more political in nature.
Now that some wrongs have been righted and the process revamped, the next big question the Hall of Fame will have to face is mortality. Unlike other sports, golfers can be relevant in the sport for 40 or 50 years. Identifying the right time to induct multi-generational figures in golf is difficult and will probably need to happen next when Tiger Woods’ time comes.
In the meantime, the Hall gets to decide if players like Ian Woosnam and Meg Mallon are considered good enough to be great.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
