Golf Channel Contributor John Feinstein is in Atlanta, Georgia this week for the Tour Championship by Coca-Cola. When asked about the criteria for induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame, Feinstein said that there should not be any criteria because numbers do not always tell the whole story when it comes to someone’s career. Colin Montgomerie is a great example of this as even though he never won a Major or even an event in the United States, he has had an unbelievable career in Europe and in the Ryder Cup. The voters should be able to exercise discretion with their votes and also the votes should be made public as it is with other Halls of Fame.
The standards for the World Golf Hall of Fame have dropped over the years and when you take that into account, Fred Couples is a Hall of Fame player with his Masters win and 15 PGA TOUR wins. The intangibles involved with Fred Couples put him over the top for Hall of Fame selection but Feinstein does not consider Couples to be a great player although he is certainly a very good player.
If you win the FedExCup, it should be noted in Hall of Fame consideration but as long as the points system is designed to place a great amount of weight on the TOUR Championship instead of the season as a whole, it should not be elevated above the level it is at now. For instance, it should not be on the same level as a Major Championship but the FedExCup is a very good achievement because it is a season-long achievement. He added that he thinks that the FedExCup has been good for golf and it has improved over the years. It will continue to grow especially if the TOUR Championship switches to a match play format.
