Olazabal Still Playing Golf, Now in Hall of Fame
by Ryan Ballengee on May 20, 2009 12:55 PM EDT
29 comments
Jose Maria Olazabal was announced as being a part of the 2009 induction class into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He joins Christy O'Connor and Lanny Wadkins in the class.
Olazabal certainly has Hall of Fame credentials:
- 23 worldwide wins
- 6 PGA Tour wins
- 2 Masters titles
- 2012 Ryder Cup captain
But, he's only 43 years old! He's still playing golf out on the European Tour and trying to make the 2010 Ryder Cup team. How in the world can our sport induct a guy into the Hall of Fame that is still playing?
Cal Ripken didn't get inducted into Cooperstown just a year or two after he broke Lou Gehrig's record. His streak and career were allowed to finish and fester for five years before the inevitibility of his election to the Hall of Fame happened.
Golf should try to be similar with its Hall. Golfers certainly have a professional shelf life longer than any other sport. There are tours geared for older players that cannot battle against the young whipper-snappers which further lengthens their competitive years. But, once a player decides that they can no longer compete on the highest stages, then and only then should they be able to get into the Hall of Fame.
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I’m always conflicted on the “do it now or do it later” debate – and it’s even tougher in golf. When do these guys actually retire ? There have been hall of famers playing the seniors tour into their 70’s. If you wait until they call it quits, you may be dragging a coffin into the ceremony.
With other sports, you figure the latest the best guys will be playing is between 40 and 45 years old. Plenty of time to wait those years before inducting them into the Hall. Golfers just keep going…and going…and going….and going….
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on May 20, 2009 1:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
OH !
Congratulations to Oli !!
When is this bunch going to figure out that Tillinghast is supposed to be in the Hall ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on May 20, 2009 1:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I mean, Oli completely deserves to get into the HOF, but why put him there when he can still play on the Euro Tour?
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 20, 2009 2:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
THAT’S not insulting !! Geez – don’t say that at a soccer match in Spain – you’ll get pummeled. (lol) Besides – he can still play on the PGA Tour. How long do you want him to wait ? He has 2 green jackets and a lifetime invite to The Masters.
I think 40 is a good minimum age…maybe 45…or 3 years after you retire.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on May 20, 2009 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
45 could work for me, but I would push for 50. And if you’re still playing after 50, that’s cool.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 20, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Weak HOF
Golf has a pretty weak Hall of Fame in general. Inducting players that are still active is nothing new. Se Ri Pak was inducted 2 years ago at the age of 30, Karrie Webb was 31, Annika was 33, Vijay was 43, and the list goes on.
Guys Curtis Strange, Ben Crenshaw, and Larry Nelson are in the very same HOF as Jones, Nelson, Hogan, Palmer, Nicklaus and Watson, while Tiger and Phil are still on the waiting list… The World Golf HOF is pretty much a crock.
I think they could at least create (a little) interest in the senior tour by making players wait until they are 50 to be eligible, and then make it a big production when a player is inducted. As it is now, it’s really an afterthought and I can’t think of anyone who actually cares.
Like in all sports, everybody with a clue already knows who the legends are anyway.
by MattSpence on May 20, 2009 3:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Good point about the LPGA Tour players that get in the Hall. 30 years old and in your sport’s hall of fame? Yikes! Even Jim Brown didn’t get in the NFL HOF at 30.
The Senior Tour induction idea is a pretty cool one, actually. Have some kind of big blow out tournament welcoming the new guys? It can only help.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 20, 2009 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
well – the LPGA HoF is based on statistics – they do have a minimum age, but all they require is a certain number of points. A few exceptionally great players have accrued their points in just a few years, but most take a long time to earn their spots. The three you mentioned had to wait several years after they made the points to be inducted.
Curtis Strange won back to back US Opens, a number of regular events, played on some excellent Ryder Cup teams, and had a VERY distinguished amateur career.
Vijay really didn’t have a HoF career until after the age of 40.
The golf HoF is different because they DO take the amateur careers into consideration.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on May 20, 2009 4:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
True, but there are more tournaments now than in the past.
It’s easier to meet the criteria in the LPGA. Maybe the criteria has shifted over time, but I think it’s been largely the same for quite some time.
by Cairo on May 21, 2009 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
you still have to win
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on May 21, 2009 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
but you have more opportunities to win.
Granted, the pool of talent is much greater now than even 15 years ago-so maybe it all cancels out.
by Cairo on May 21, 2009 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Those
Ben Crenshaw makes the Hall of Fame by every conceivable metric. 12 amateur titles, tied with Tom Kite in PGA wins, two majors, and continuous presence on the Sunday leaderboard from 1975 to 1990. The guy ended up with 24 Top 10 finishes in majors during that time, and it doesn’t include his dramatic ’95 Masters win.
Curtis Strange may end up in the Hall of Very Good in some cases, but I have no beef with him being there. He was unstoppable in the late ’80s-becoming the first player to win $1,000,000 in a calendar year. The back to back US Open wins count in the HoF. They value majors over everything else. The only drawback is longevity—his fall after 1990 was pretty dramatic.
Larry Nelson won three majors, one of only 26 people on Earth to do so. He didn’t really do much else in his career, but I have a hard time keep off a guy with as many majors as Billy Casper and Phil Mickelson.
Jose Maria Olazabal is essentially a European Ben Crenshaw, but with more wins and a British Amateur title. He’s in by a mile.
by Cairo on May 21, 2009 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Excellent job !
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on May 21, 2009 1:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Subjectivity
I think it all comes down to how you classify a Hall of Fame career. Obviously, the World Golf Hall of Fame wants to add members each year so that they can have an induction ceremony, possibly bring in some new visitors and generate revenue.
However, if it were up to me, the Hall of FAME would look something like this:
Old Tom Morris, Tom Morris Jr., Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and you can go ahead and add Tiger in there right now.
I may have missed a couple, and obviously there are also several worthy LPGA players like (but not limited to) Zaharias, Nancy Lopez & Annika, but that about ends my list…
They can go ahead and build a nice big building right next to my Hall of Fame called the Hall of Mentionables. In front of the building there will be a huge statue of Larry Nelson throwing a fist pump while the crowd is yawning in the background.
by MattSpence on May 21, 2009 10:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Three major titles for Larry isn’t good enough?
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 21, 2009 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
No
His two wins in the Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic are what put him over the top. I, for one, would love to know what happened to the ’84 and ’87 Olds he likely won in those tournaments.
I’d imagine it’s a bit like George in Seinfeld who was so proud that the beater car he bought was once driven by Jon Voight. Right now there’s probably some guy with a beige ’84 Olds in his garage under a blue cover that brings his friends over to see the car that Larry Nelson once owned. Does that make it a classic car?
by Cairo on May 21, 2009 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Haha, only if there is a pencil in the glove compartment with his bite marks.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 21, 2009 12:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
No – the 25 years that have passed since they made the car are what make it, or any car, a classic.
You’re kidding about the Disney wins putting him into the Hall…right ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on May 21, 2009 1:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes I am kidding.
Just an indirect comment that judging them on Disney wins is almost as arbitrary as major wins. Certainly, the winnings and competition are greater in a major, but I think the pressure heading to the 72nd hole when you’re up by a stroke is the same. This is particularly true of Nelson, who won the PGA at the Atlanta Country Club where he’d won the previous year at the Atlanta Classic PGA Tour stop. Understand I’m not trying to downgrade his accomplishment, I’m just saying that every HoF standard is arbitrary.
by Cairo on May 21, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well – I do agree with you for the most part. I would restate to say that the PGA Tour inductions into the HoF are arbitrary and relativistic. At least the LPGA decided that they needed to set down rules for their HoF inductees. Yes, the number they picked is arbitrary, what number isnt ? But it is based on some decent reasoning.
Men’s HoF’s are pretty much all left up to the whim of the sports writers.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on May 21, 2009 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sorry Larry, but..
I have nothing against Larry Nelson. I’d trade careers with him any day of the week. He also has a pretty remarkable story. He started playing in his 20s and still went on to win 10 tour events and 3 majors.
In my opinion, there are twenty players who I left out of the “Official Matt Spence Unofficial, but Ultra-Prestigious Hall of Fame” who had vastly superior careers to Nelson. Phil Mickelson, for example, has the same amount of majors and 26 more wins than Nelson, and he might get in by the skin on his teeth!
by MattSpence on May 21, 2009 1:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
He's got one less Major win than Old Tom Morris
just sayin’.
It’s all arbitrary.
by Cairo on May 21, 2009 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He has one more major win than Greg Norman!!!
Which is why Norman isn’t on my list, although I think he has a much more compelling arguement than Larry Nelson because of his worldwide wins, total # of wins, and the fact that he was one of the top three players, if not the very best, for an 8 – 10 year period of time.
If you think Larry Nelson is a Hall fo Famer, you are 100% entitled to that opinion. The World Golf Hall of Fame agrees with you! Personally, when I think of Larry Nelson, Hall of Famer isn’t what comes to mind. Maybe I should lower my standards…
by MattSpence on May 21, 2009 3:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
this is true – but Norman earned the #1 ranking in the world and held it for a record number of months until Tiger came along. That’s not easy.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on May 21, 2009 4:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
In other words, we need some kind of formula to determine who gets in the Hall of Fame. I mean, for guys like Old Tom Morris who played before the dawn of professional golf tours, it’s all arbitrary. But, there should be some kind of system to determine guys like Nelson, etc.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 21, 2009 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
nonsense, Cairo – haven’t you kept up with the coverage of Wie-sus ? She can’t be lumped in with all these other meer mortals in the golf world. She should have her own Hall…possibly similar to the Taj Mahal – the Taj Wie Hall, perhaps. She is the savior of women’s golf and the LPGA…even though she has turned her nose up at it since she was 13. Forget all the silly rules about winning – she is above all those earthly bindings. I fully expect her to be fitted for a Green Jacket, regardless of whether she plays in The Masters or not. How can she be denied her rightful throne at Augusta National ? These are the rights of the “Global Citizen”.
(bwwaaaaahahahahaaaa)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on May 21, 2009 10:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think there should be a hall of hype. And Michelle Wie would be the first inductee.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 21, 2009 10:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I like what that
MattSpence has to say. He and his sister are in my personal Hall of Fame…
by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on May 22, 2009 9:10 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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