By: Max Bechtoldt
With Lydia Ko so close to punching her ticket into the LPGA Hall of Fame, conversations have heated up about the criteria and if a new system needs to be put in place.
The LPGA Hall of Fame is the most exclusive of any American sports league. To its credit, everyone in it is a true legend of the game. There are currently only 33 members, only two of whom began their career in the 21st century (Inbee Park and Lorena Ochoa). But is this exclusivity worth leaving some of the all-time greats out?
The Criteria:
The LPGA Hall of Fame is one of the few “objective” Hall of Fames in sports. This means that instead of being decided by voting, it is just a counting game. If you reach the necessary points, you are in, if you don’t, you’re out. The points work as follows:
- Every Tournament Won – 1 point
- Every Major Won – 2 points
- Every LPGA Tour Player of the Year – 1 point
- Every Vare Trophy (Low Scoring Average) – 1 point
- Every Olympic Gold Medal – 1 point
Every Hall of Famer must reach 27 total points in order to be inducted.
With the rise of parity in the LPGA Tour, it is going to continue to be harder than ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, below I have some solutions that I think could improve the process:
Lower the Necessary Point Goal:
I personally do like the objective criteria idea. Though it takes the fun debates out of the equation, it gives a clear goal for players to reach. A problem is, especially in the last 10 years, even the best players don’t win all that much. I wouldn’t say to drastically lower the number, but bringing it down to 20 would keep it exclusive and still full of only legends, while giving more modern players a realistic number to achieve. With this new criteria, a player like Cristie Kerr would get in, who has 20 wins and two majors.
Change the Point Values:
I can’t be the only one thinking that some of these point values are a little off right? Player of the Year gets the same amount of points as an individual tournament? This year there will be 32 tournament winners but only one Player of the Year. The award also values how well a player finishes on a weekly basis even when they don’t win. I would bump Player of the Year up to three points and the Vare Trophy up to two, putting more emphasis on player consistency. This would get unquestioned legend Laura Davies in the Hall of Fame, who is two points shy despite 20 wins and four majors. But, Davies’ Player of the Year award raising to three points would get her to 27.
Every Player with Three Majors Gets in:
A frustrating thing to see in the Hall of Fame is the devaluing of majors. Majors are hard to win especially on the LPGA Tour and winning one automatically makes a player a star. Winning three makes them a legend. There are only two current full-time LPGA Tour players with three majors, In Gee Chun and Anna Nordqvist. Though neither has had the most consistent career, they should be honored for performing when the lights are the brightest. This would also get Yani Tseng in the Hall of Fame, who has 15 wins and five majors, but somehow is not included.
Add to the Criteria:
There are unaccounted for categories that I think could be reasonably added.
- 1 point for Rookie of the Year
- 1 point for an Olympic Medal, Gold bumps up to 2
- 1 point for winning The Annika Major Award
- 1/2 point for each Solheim Cup/International Crown Appearance
- 1 point for winning The Aon Risk/Reward Challenge
These are all major milestones that players can achieve in their careers that currently have no impact on a Hall of Fame case.
Open up Voting:
While this isn’t my favorite option, it does have some intriguing arguments, most notably impact. While I suppose technically, impact can be objectively measured, it can’t be by the current criteria system. Think of a player like Ariya Jutanugarn (pictured above). Jutanugarn still has a long career ahead of her, but with her current trajectory doesn’t seem in line to reach 27 points. Jutanugarn has had an excellent career, with 12 wins, two majors and a Player of the Year under her belt. The impact that Jutanugarn has had on her home country, Thailand, for golf though makes her far more important in the history books. Now, Thailand is one of the most dominant countries in the world of women’s golf. The evidence? Just look at the 2023 International Crown.
I don’t think there’s an easy answer to the question of how to fix the LPGA Hall of Fame. It is important to keep it exclusive, but when only one player every 10 years makes it, the Hall of Fame tends to lose its relevance. The LPGA loves to honor its legends, it just needs more of them honored here.
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