Saturday, April 23, 2005
Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame earlier this week. At age 42, Singh is the youngest golfer to be inducted into the hall.
Normally, a golfer must collect 65% of votes to be inducted. Since no golfer received 65% of the votes this year, Singh got the nod as the golfer with the highest percentage (56%) of votes.
Lanny Wadkins, CBS' golf analyst and a blowhard, said something was wrong with the election system if Singh only received 56% of the vote. Obviously, he only considered Singh's 25 tour victories and three major championships. But that is not the full story on Singh.
Singh was deemed to have altered his scorecard, AFTER it was signed by his playing partners, in the 1985 Indonesian Open. The Asian Tour suspended Singh for his actions. At that time, Singh was already under suspension by the Australian Tour for off-the-course actions.
Singh also opposed female golfer Annika Sorenstam's appearance in the 2003 Colonial golf tournament, even withdrawing from the tournament. He was ineloquent in making his case against Sorenstam, which fits with his generally surly demeanor directed at fans and the press.
Singh's candidacy is a bit like Pete Rose's situation. Both have competitive records are worthy of enshrinement, but their other actions put them in a gray area.
I support baseball's position to deny Rose entry to its hall. I wish the game that holds up integrity as its defining characteristic had denied Singh, too.
Normally, a golfer must collect 65% of votes to be inducted. Since no golfer received 65% of the votes this year, Singh got the nod as the golfer with the highest percentage (56%) of votes.
Lanny Wadkins, CBS' golf analyst and a blowhard, said something was wrong with the election system if Singh only received 56% of the vote. Obviously, he only considered Singh's 25 tour victories and three major championships. But that is not the full story on Singh.
Singh was deemed to have altered his scorecard, AFTER it was signed by his playing partners, in the 1985 Indonesian Open. The Asian Tour suspended Singh for his actions. At that time, Singh was already under suspension by the Australian Tour for off-the-course actions.
Singh also opposed female golfer Annika Sorenstam's appearance in the 2003 Colonial golf tournament, even withdrawing from the tournament. He was ineloquent in making his case against Sorenstam, which fits with his generally surly demeanor directed at fans and the press.
Singh's candidacy is a bit like Pete Rose's situation. Both have competitive records are worthy of enshrinement, but their other actions put them in a gray area.
I support baseball's position to deny Rose entry to its hall. I wish the game that holds up integrity as its defining characteristic had denied Singh, too.
