"What was wrong with the old system had nothing to do with who voted, and everything to do with who attended the induction ceremony..."

AP's Doug Ferguson slams the new World Golf Hall of Fame criteria.

He opens the piece by not so subtly pointing out that Vijay Singh should be happy because he probably wouldn't stand a chance if the new criteria were in place when he became eligible.

But mostly, Ferguson comes away feeling like this will be more of a club than ever, with not enough voters who are independent voices.

Missing from the process is the independent voice of the writers. That’s how it works in baseball and football, the best two shrines in sports. The explanation from Jack Peter, the chief operating officer of the World Golf Hall of Fame, was bordering on offensive, if not ridiculous.

“We believe it puts the decision-making of who gets into the Hall of Fame in the right hands — individuals who know the history of the game, have a passion for the game, who know the players, who understand the qualities that make up a Hall of Famer,” he said.

Some of the administrators — maybe even most of them — have a greater appreciation and sense of history than some writers who once had a ballot. But, for the most part, they’re not in the business of chronicling the game, but to make money off it.