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Tim Finchem More Than Worthy of Hall of Fame Selection

By Tim Letcher

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL - MAY 15: A general view of the 16th and 17th hole is seen from the MetLife Blimp during the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship held at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on May 15, 2011 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images for MetLife Blimp)
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL - MAY 15: A general view of the 16th and 17th hole is seen from the MetLife Blimp during the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship held at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on May 15, 2011 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images for MetLife Blimp) /
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Tim Finchem oversaw the expansion of the PGA Tour from 1994-2016. He is now being honored with a World Golf Hall of Fame induction.

The World Golf Hall of Fame is continuing to announce its Class of 2021 and on Tuesday, former PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem was named as the third member of next year’s class.

Finchem joins Tiger Woods and Marion Hollis in next year’s class, which is still being announced by the Hall of Fame. Finchem served as the Commissioner of the PGA Tour from 1994 until 2016, a period in which the game grew by leaps and bounds.

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It’s appropriate that Finchem and Woods will be inducted in the same class because the two are forever linked in the growth of the PGA Tour. While Finchem did his share of helping the game grow, it was the explosion of Woods’ popularity that took the game to an entirely new level.

Finchem took advantage of Woods’ popularity and stardom to help increase the prize money for all tour players. Part of that was negotiating television deals in 1997, 2001 and 2005, all of which helped bring more money into the tour. Those deals also increased the exposure of the game, riding on the back of Woods.

Finchem, who is a single handicap golfer, actually served in the White House under President Jimmy Carter early in his career. He served as the Deputy Advisor to the President in the Office of Economic Affairs in 1978 and 1979.

While Woods will always be given the majority of the credit for the expansion of the game in the late 90s and early 2000s, Finchem deserves credit as well. Finchem was the businessman behind the scenes who was able to negotiate the deals with television partners and sponsors who wanted a part of the tour (and Woods).

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Due to those reasons, Finchem is a worthy candidate for the World Golf Hall of Fame. And it seems appropriate that he and Woods will be inducted at the same time.

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