... there'd be a lot fewer guys in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

The LPGA Tour's elibility requirements for Hall of Fame membership are among the most difficult to meet in all of sports. With most sports halls of fame, entry is determined by a panel of voters (usually some combination of veteran media members, sport/league officials and retired players).

Not so with the LPGA. If an LPGA player wants to get into the World Golf Hall of Fame, she must accrue points based on wins and awards over the course of her career, and reach the minimum point level of 27.

I've written a couple times recently, including earlier today, about Laura Davies being stuck just two points shy of induction. She has 25 points. She needs two more to gain automatic entry.

The LPGA doles out Hall of Fame points thusly:

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• 2 points for a major championship
  
• 1 point for a "regular" (i.e., non-major) Tour victory
  
• 1 point for a scoring title
  
• 1 point for a Player of the Year award
  

Sometimes the LPGA is criticized for putting someone like Karrie Webb or Se Ri Pak or even Annika Sorenstam into the Hall when those players are so young and in the middle of their careers. But reaching that 27-point plateau is hard. Witness Laura Davies, a 4-time major champion who has 20 overall LPGA Tour wins. If you hit 27 points, you've earned your place in the World Golf Hall of Fame, no matter at what age or with how many years of experience you got to 27.

One way to show how difficult it is for an LPGA Tour player to earn Hall of Fame membership is to take the LPGA's point system and apply it to PGA Tour players.

One of the best players in golf is Jim Furyk. How's Jim doing on the points scale? Let's see: He has one major, 12 other tour wins, and he won a scoring title. That adds up to 15 points. Furyk isn't even in sniffing distance yet and he's in his late-30s. Will he ever reach 27 points? I guarantee he won't.

But, to be fair, Furyk has plenty of good years left. Let's apply the LPGA points system to a great golfer whose PGA Tour career is already over. Like Hale Irwin, who was voted in the World Golf Hall of Fame years ago:

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• Hale Irwin: 3 majors, 17 "regular" wins, 23 points.
  

Sorry, Hale. Four points shy. You're just not good enough.

How good do you have to be to reach 27 points? You have to be Raymond Floyd good. And that's pretty damn good:

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• Raymond Floyd: 4 majors, 18 regular, 1 scoring title, 27 points
  

Even Ray, a 4-time major champion winner, only manages to hit 27 points exactly. But don't be insulted, Ray: Laura Davies is a 4-time major champion, too, and she's still two points away.

Someone like Davis Love III? Not close. Here's a rundown of some of the best players of the past 35 years, some of whom are already in the World Golf Hall of Fame (denoted with an asterisk), but none of whom would qualify using the LPGA's point system:

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• *Greg Norman -- 26 points (2 majors, 18 regular, 3 scoring titles, 1 Player of the Year award)
  
• *Nick Price -- 25 points (3 majors, 15 regular, 2 scoring titles, 2 Player of Year awards)
  
• *Tom Kite -- 23 points (1 major, 18 regular, 2 scoring titles, 1 Player of the Year award)
  
• Lanny Wadkins -- 23 points (1 major, 20 regular, 1 Player of the Year award)
  
• *Ben Crenshaw -- 21 points (2 majors, 17 regular)
  
• *Hubert Green -- 21 points (2 majors, 17 regular)
  
• Fred Couples -- 20 points (1 major, 14 regular, 2 scoring titles, 2 Player of the Year awards)
  
• Davis Love III -- 20 points (1 major, 18 regular)
  
• *Curtis Strange -- 20 points (2 majors, 15 regular, 1 Player of the Year award)
  
• Mark O'Meara -- 19 points (2 majors, 14 regular, 1 Player of the Year award)
  
• Ernie Els -- 18 points (3 majors, 12 regular)
  

Among active players, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson are the only ones who qualify, and likely the only ones who will.

Given how daunting it is for LPGA Tour players chasing the Hall, it's almost scary to realize that the 27-points requirement is based on a system that was created to make it easier to qualify.

Prior to this points system, LPGA Tour players had to meet one of the following criteria to qualify for the Hall of Fame:

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• At least 30 wins with victories in at least two different majors
  
• At least 35 wins with at least one major championship
  
• At least 40 wins
  

Nancy Lopez had three major championships, but didn't qualify until her 35th overall victory because all her majors were the same one (LPGA Championship).

This even-more-difficult selection system was replaced with the current, "easier" points system for two reasons: Beth Daniel and Amy Alcott.

Alcott had five majors, but was stuck on 29 career wins. Daniel had more than 30 career wins, but fewer than 35 and only one major.

Alcott and Daniel weren't going to make the Hall of Fame. And if Amy Alcott and Beth Daniel can't make your Hall of Fame, why bother even having one? And that's when the current points system was created.

(Update: Just wanted to add that LPGA Tour members can gain entry to the World Golf Hall of Fame without meeting the 27-point minimum. After they've been retired a while, and if they meet certain other requirements, players can be inducted via a Veterans Committee vote. But only four - Marilyn Smith, Donna Caponi, Judy Rankin and Marlene Hagge - have gotten in through this vote.)