World Golf Hall of Fame Ballots for Class of 2012

ACTIVE TOUR PLAYERS PHIL MICKELSON, Jim Furyk, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Mark O’Meara and Fuzzy Zoeller have been placed on the PGA Tour Ballot for consideration as the Class of 2012 of the World Golf Hall of Fame. A complete listing of players on the PGA Tour and International ballots is below.

Hall of Fame members, golf journalists, golf historians and dignitaries will cast their votes between now and October. Inductees will be announced before the end of the year. The World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held in May on the Monday before the Players Championship.

PGA Tour Ballot
Miller Barber
Fred Couples
Jim Furyk
Don January
Tony Lema
Davis Love III
Harold (Jug) McSpaden
Phil Mickelson
Mark O’Meara
Loren Roberts
Macdonald Smith
Dave Stockton
Ken Venturi
Fuzzy Zoeller

International Ballot
Peter Alliss
Darren Clarke
Max Faulkner
Retief Goosen
Miguel Angel Jimenez
Sandy Lyle
Graham Marsh
Colin Montgomerie
Norman Von Nida
Ian Woosnam

Mickelson is in. That’s certain. Who else should be voted in? Who shouldn’t?

Let’s face it, we’re in an era during which there are few multiple majors winners. Mickelson aside, O’Meara has two, as does Lyle. Whether now or later, those two should enter the Hall. Goosen, too, for that matter, with his two U.S. Opens, 14 European Tour wins and seven PGA Tour titles. (Note: Two of Goosen’s victories are counted on both tours.) And there’s Zoeller with two majors but only 10 PGA Tour victories. Tough call.

There are a bunch of one-major guys with 15 or so tour wins. What do you do with them?

Then you have Monty: 31 European Tour wins and an outstanding Ryder Cup record. But the Scot has zero majors and no PGA Tour wins. (Woosnam has 29 European Tour wins and a Masters.)

My hunch is that the bar for Hall entry will continue to be lowered.

−The Armchair Golfer

17 Long Years Between Wins for Larry Mize

2010 Montreal Championship Recap
Winner: Larry Mize
Score: 17 under, 199 (67, 68, 64)
Quote: “I’ll take a win anywhere.”
Fact: His middle name is “Hogan.”
Thought: Next win in 2027?

THE LAST TIME LARRY MIZE won on a professional tour he was 34, the same age as Tiger Woods. Mize shot 16 under at the 1993 Buick Open to beat Fuzzy Zoeller by a stroke. It was his second win of the season and his fourth PGA Tour title. One could reasonably expect more wins from Mize, a pretty good if not spectacular player who I remember as a putting and short-game specialist. But more victories didn’t materialize.

So when the 51-year-old Mize watched John Cook miss his 25-foot birdie putt yesterday on the final hole of the Montreal Championship, he was moved to tears. Seventeen years is a long time between wins. Between anything, really.

“Once it happened, it was hard to keep that emotion back,” Mize said. “You know, it’s hard to believe.”

I guess it would be.

Mize got the job done in the final round by firing an 8-under 64 that included seven birdies and an eagle to edge runner-up Cook by a shot.

The attendance at the inaugural Champions Tour event in Quebec was impressive, a total of 54,000 spectators with 22,000 on hand for the final round. Fred Couples, who finished in a five-way tie for fifth, was a definite fan favorite. U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin continued his good play, finishing in a tie for third with Dan Forsman.

−The Armchair Golfer