OverHalled: Monty Inspires WGHOF Criteria Makeover!

Left unsaid in all of the stories I skimmed about the new World Golf Hall of Fame setup announced Sunday at Bay Hill: this may ultimately be Monty's greatest contribution to the game. For while the bloated one and his questionable 2013 induction didn't come up, it does not seem much of a reach to conclude that his inclusion (and Fred Couples' to a lesser extent) prompted Sunday's announcement.

The new look WGHOF hat led to a more streamlined set of categories, taking away the power of a certain crony-lover ushering in someone unworthy of induction, but there's also some potential for two huge committee's to make a mess of the whole affair. The only thing missing from Sunday's announcement was the appointment of the ubiquitous Condi Rice to the committee.

Ron Sirak with the details which sadly did not address arguably the hall's biggest credibility killer, certainly as much an issue as Monty's induction.

Remaining the same from the previous selection process is the minimum age of 40 for induction or, for retired players, the need to be five years removed from active competition. That means Tiger Woods and Lorena Ochoa will be eligible for the 2017 class.

Ryan Lavner focuses on who will be involved in the decision-making process. The media will be severely under-represented compared to other Halls.

Instead of an open vote, the media now will be represented by Derek Lawrenson, president of the Association of Golf Writers, Ron Sirak, president of the Golf Writers Association of America, and at-large member John Hopkins.

“It wasn’t done because there was something really broken with the other system,” PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. “The Hall of Famers are must more directly involved in the process, and we think that will translate to more interest in the results of the process as we forward. We liked the old system. But we like this one better.”

Exactly. There was nothing wrong with the other system that didn't need a little of this.

Randall Mell considers the biggest change to the once vaunted, widely revered LPGA criteria to match that of the men. It's still not easy to get in the Hall if you are an LPGA great. And the new system will usher in some automatic berths right off the bat.

Laura Davies, two points short of qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame, will become immediately eligible for the World Golf Hall of Fame’s next induction class in 2015.

Dottie Pepper and Meg Mallon, both of whom fell short of the points required for LPGA induction, also will become immediately eligible for the World Golf Hall of Fame.