Hall Of Fame Candidates
by hound dog on Mar 11, 2009 2:58 PM PDT
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PrintThe Ji-Yai Shin victory-total discussion earlier this week reminded me to take a look at the up-to-date Hall Of Fame point totals. Let's re-evaluate the players who have the best chances to join that elite group someday.
Each player receives one HOF point for every LPGA career victory, one bonus point for each major championship, and one bonus point for each Player of the Year and Vare Trophy (Rookie of the Year awards do not count). A player who reaches 27 points will qualify for the Hall if she has fulfilled one of those three bonus point criteria AND completed ten seasons on the LPGA Tour. Here are the active leaders in HOF points among those not already in:
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Laura Davies 25 Meg Mallon 22 Liselotte Neumann 14 Cristie Kerr 12 Sherri Steinhauer 10 Christa Johnson 10 Kelly Robbins 10 Grace Park 8 Paula Creamer 8 Rachel Hetherington 8 Mi Hyun Kim 8 Brandie Burton 7 Helen Alfredsson 7 Michelle McGann 7 Suzann Pettersen 6 Pat Hurst 6 Hee-Won Han 6 Ji-Yai Shin 5 Barb Mucha 5 Cindy Rarick 5 Dorothy Delasin 4 Lorie Kane 4 Candie Kung 4 Seon Hwa Lee 4 Angela Stanford 4 Wendy Ward 4 |
The players in bold have already completed the secondary qualification of either winning a major, a Player of the Year award or a Vare Trophy. When I posted this list last year and the year before, I arbitrarily left out several names who I felt had no chance to move up - much less qualify for the Hall. As you probably already know, one of those omitted players won two tournaments and nearly claimed a major championship last year. This time I've included Helen Alfredsson and all other active players with four points or more.
The big movers over the last 11 months are Shin (+5), Creamer (+3), and Stanford (+3). Kerr is the veteran player in the best position currently but she only collected one point in 2008 (and two in 2007) and we've established that averaging one or even two points a year isn't usually enough to keep a player on track to reach 27. You need a couple of six-to-eight point seasons (a la Ochoa 2006-8 and Pettersen 2007) along the way. Shin certainly looks like she is about to have a season-plus like that, and by the way - she's not even 21 yet. Even though she hasn't had one of those seasons yet, Paula Creamer has set herself up nicely. Her next point will put her one-third of the way there, and she won't be 23 until August.
So which of these players has the best chance to get to 27? Here are my predictions but tell me what you think in the comments.
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1. Ji-Yai Shin 2. Paula Creamer 3. Cristie Kerr 4. Suzann Pettersen 5. Laura Davies 6. Mi Hyun Kim |
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HOF
Nice research HD, I believe that the only one on your list to make it to the HOF will be Paula Creamer. I don’t believe Shin will play on the LPGA for any period of time. The next phenom to make the HOF has not made it through qualifying school yet. Wow Wie did I say that!
Enjoyed the list. Take a look at LPGA.com’s list of all-time wins leaders. I think it hasn’t been updated recently.
the list I found was through 2007
I had to add in the ‘08 and ’09 victories myself. I’m still waiting for that job invite from LPGA.com!
HOF
I would like to see Laura Davies make the LPGA Hall Of Fame. However, I believe she no longer has a good enough golf game left at her age to make the other two points. Kerr and Mi Hyun Kim need to have a 5 point season soon to get on track to make it. Unless Suzann Pettersen wins several times this year, she goes into the will not make it category. Only Creamer and Shin are making points at a rate that will gain the required HOF points and are the most likely to make the HOF.
Davies
She can get on fire in a hurry—who would have expected her to win in Australia this February after playing so badly in previous ALPG events? Now, Karrie Webb can tell you AU wins are no guarantee of LPGA success, but I wouldn’t count Laura out entirely.
Otherwise I agree completely with tatkins.
by The Constructivist on Mar 12, 2009 9:00 AM PDT reply actions
Laura is so close, I have to give her a chance of making it
If Helen Alfredsson could win twice last year, Laura Davies could do it this year.
She's so streaky, anything can happen...
…even with the MUCH greater difficulty of winning on the LPGA. Still, I think she missed her best chances back that fall and winter when Pettersen was the hottest golfer on the planet. Here’s hoping she has a few more such LPGA opportunities to close the deal before her career ends!
by The Constructivist on Mar 13, 2009 12:03 AM PDT reply actions
Age
Laura Davies is 45 years 5 months plus years old. Only a few players have won at that age or older. Alfredsson is 18 months younger. I hope Laura wins, but realistically two wins or a major win at her age is a lot to ask.
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