Musing about the recent Masters Tournament, a writer in Golf.com just observed that of all the winners of two green jackets, those who are eligible (Tiger is not yet eligible but is obviously a shoo-in) have all been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Interesting factoid, but let’s not get carried away here.
There are four golfers with two green jackets and no
other major wins. Three of them are modern-era
golfers: Jose Maria Olazabal, Bernhard Langer
and Ben Crenshaw. Admittedly, all three are in the WGHOF despite having won no
other of golf’s majors. But let’s take a
closer look.
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| 90 Professional Wins! |
First, there has been a great deal of controversy concerning
the alleged ease with which golfers are elected to the WGHOF. See my earlier post, Champagne Tony for
WGHOF, here. Owning two green jackets
certainly works in your favor at the WGHOF.
However, between them these three golfers have accumulated 149 professional
wins, with Langer leading the way with 90 professional wins. Bubba
has a total of eight professional wins, with only one coming in the past three years,
not counting his Masters wins. Bubba is
a long way from his plaque in St. Augustine.
The more apt career comparison is to Andy
North. North won two U.S. Open championships. The two majors wins doubled the total of his
career wins on the PGA Tour (1). Not surprisingly, North has not been inducted into
the WGHOF and most likely will not be in the near future. (Lee Janzen is another apt comparison: two U.S. Open championships, only 6 other PGA
Tour wins lifetime.) So let’s chill on
the Bubba-mania, please. Until he proves
he can win on a regular golf course, not a trumped up course with no rough like
Augusta National, Watson remains an oddity in golf history, not a Hall of Fame
candidate.
AMDG
© 2012-2020 R.E. Kelly
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