Golf Hall of Fame: A Look at Five Who were Overlooked
By Bill Felber
Hall of Fame Overlooked Entrant #1: Ted Ray
In the second decade of the 20th Century, Ray was the best golfer in the world. He won two major championships, challenged in others, and was one of the sport’s few true ‘international’ figures.
In the dozen major tournaments in which Ray competed between 1906 and 1920, Ray eight times was in the top 5, averaged just 5.5 strokes out of the lead, and never finished outside the top 10.
Beyond that, he was a central figure in one of the game’s seminal moments, Francis Ouimet’s victory in the 1913 U.S. Open at Brookline. When Ouimet won that three-way playoff, he beat Ray as well as Harry Vardon.
All three had shot 304 for the four rounds, Ray closing with a 79. Had he merely matched his third round of 76, he would have won going away.
By that stage of his career, Ray, 36, was on his way to supplanting Vardon as the best player in Britain, which is to say in the world. He had won the 1912 British Open by four strokes over Vardon, Prior to his 1913 playoff loss to Ouimet, Ray had finished second in defense of his 1912 Open win, eight strokes behind J.H. Taylor and one ahead of Vardon.
When World War I ended, Ray and Vardon crossed the ocean to compete in the 1920 U.S. Open. Ray won, one ahead of Vardon and three Americans. He was third in that year’s British Open.
Ray is credited with 46 tournament titles, although most came before the development of a recognized tournament ‘tour’ in either Britain, Europe or the United States.
As a Hall candidate, Ray’s problem appears to be that his career overlapped World War I. He was 37 when war was declared and 41 when it ended. At a time when he was the pre-eminent player, the war cost him five shots at the British Open and possibly some chances to compete at the U.S. Open.
He deserves better from Hall voters. Measured by peak performance, Ray’s score of -1.69 ranks behind only Tom Weiskopf among Hall eligibles; Weiskopf is a 2021 nominee.
For career performance, Ray’s score ranks among the top 40 all-time.