Golf Hall of Fame: Rating Tiger Woods and the other candidates
By Bill Felber
Career resumes
The first question is simple longevity: How many seasons did they play professionally, how many tournaments did they compete in and how many of those were major events?
Weiskopf, Farrell, and Palmer have the lengthiest resumes, all having competed on their respective tours for 28 seasons. Farrell’s career was bracketed and possibly shortened, by two world wars. Harrington, who still plays occasionally, is a 24-season veteran.
Maxwell-Berning played competitively for 20 seasons between 1964 and 1986. Pepper was active for just 17 seasons before retiring to broadcasting, while Hanson competed for just 12 seasons, mostly during the 1950s.
Since there have historically been many more men’s tournaments than women’s, it’s no surprise that the men all accumulated more victories than the women. Harrington leads the group with 31 wins worldwide. Weiskopf won 28 times, 16 of them on the PGA Tour. 28 wins. Farrell won 27 tournaments, 22 of them on the PGA Tour, most of them in the 1920s.
Among the women, Palmer accumulated 19 victories, Pepper and Hanson both won 17 times and Maxwell-Berning won 11.
But Maxwell-Berning’s record is enhanced by the fact that four of her 11 wins came in majors: The 1965 Women’s Western Open, plus 1968, 1972 and 1973 Women’s U.S. Opens. Aside from Woods, she is the only Hall candidate with more than three major victories.
Harrington won three majors, the 2007 and 2008 British Opens and the 2008 PGA. Hanson also was a three-time major winner, taking the 1955 LPGA Championship, the 1956 Women’s Western Open and the 1958 Titleholders.
Palmer and Pepper were both two-time LPGA major champions. Palmer won the 1972 Titleholders and the 1975 Women’s U.S. Open. Pepper won the 1992 and 1999 Kraft Nabisco events.
Farrell, the 1928 U.S. Open champion and Weiskopf, who won the 1973 British Open champion, claimed only those single major titles.
Aside from Tiger Woods, the resume portion of this exam probably goes to Maxwell-Berning with her four majors, although Harrington’s 31 career wins and Weiskopf’s 28 also merit consideration.