Golf Hall of Fame: Rating Tiger Woods and the other candidates
By Bill Felber
The Hall of Fame nominations came out, and there are ten names in total. Tiger Woods is a cinch selectee, but who else deserves enshrinement?
The World Golf Hall of Fame will consider 10 names for its enshrinement Class of 2021. Is Tiger Woods the most deserving, or is it another of the 10 that are most deserving of selection?
The Hall’s rules allow it to induct a maximum of four of the nominees, who were chosen in three categories: four men, four women, and two contributors.
The 10 nominees are Tiger Woods, Tom Weiskopf, Padraig Harrington, Johnny Farrell, Susie Maxwell-Berning, Beverly Hanson, Sandra Palmer, Dottie Pepper, Tim Finchem, and Marion Hollins.
Woods is eligible due to a recent rules change that lowered the age for consideration to 45: he will be 45 December 30. Given his status as a 15-time major champion and one of the game’s all-time greats, his selection is assumed.
Finchem was PGA Tour commissioner for 22 years, from 1994 through 2016. Hollins was an amateur player, but she is being considered for her contributions to golf course architecture. The first well-known female course architect, she died in 1944.
Since Woods is an obvious selectee and both Finchem and Hollins will be considered for contributions that cannot be measured, this consideration of the relative on-course merits of the candidates will focus on the remaining seven.
We’ll measure each of them in three categories: career resumes, performance during their peak seasons, and career performance in majors, to determine which of the seven are most deserving.