PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA | Pádraig Harrington stood at a lectern, his head cocked characteristically to one side, a smile playing on his face. It wasn’t the first time that all eyes were trained on the Irishman, three times a major champion, but this time not because he was facing a slippery 4-foot downhill putt on a green as smooth as glass. This time it was because Harrington was speaking at his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame, having been introduced to the several hundred guests in an amusing speech by Paddy, his older son. He spoke with humour, modesty and passion and, as always, at length.
In this he caught the tone of the evening, the induction of the WGHOF’s Class of 2024, a ceremony that took place on Monday night of U.S. Open week in Pinehurst. It was there on a summer’s night in 1974 that the hall had been inaugurated, and President Gerald Ford was in attendance. The 50th anniversary, honoring Harrington, Sandra Palmer, the late Johnny Farrell, Beverly Hanson, Tom Weiskopf and the seven of the 13 LPGA founders not previously enshrined, was a glittering occasion, the greatest gathering of male and female professional golfers since, well, since the last ceremony, in March 2022.
It was held in the storied Carolina Hotel, and the old girl and its glorious golden dome set among the village’s eponymous pine trees was at its best. It gleamed in the late-spring sunshine, and one of her staterooms echoed to laughter, conversation, tinkling glasses, the buzz of friendship, the shedding of tears of sadness and happiness. Those present shared a bond. They were hymning golf to the rafters.
Proceedings began with the alphabetical introduction of the 29 hall members in attendance, from A (Isao Aoki) to W (Dennis Walters). Then Anne Murray, the Canadian singer, spoke about her friend Sandra Palmer, whose excitement and exuberant personality were obvious from the moment she burst onto the stage as if catapulted from a cannon. “Sandra may be tiny [she is 5 feet, 1½ inches],” Murray said, “but in golf she is mighty.”
In her reply to these gracious words, Palmer told of having many lessons with the late Harvey Penick, the famous teacher, and how one day she asked him why he didn’t charge more for lessons. “If I charged big money, I’d have to use big words,” Penick replied. Palmer, who teaches to this day, said of Penick: “I still feel his hand on my shoulder.”
Darius Rucker, the singer, musician, songwriter and, most relevant, the golf enthusiast who attended the University of South Carolina, was a genial host of the proceedings. He introduced posthumously Beverly Hanson, the winner of the inaugural LPGA Championship as well as two other major championships among her 17 LPGA Tour victories. And he introduced posthumously Johnny Farrell, who triumphed in a 36-hole playoff against amateur Bobby Jones to win the 1928 U.S. Open. Starting in the spring of 1927, Farrell won eight consecutive PGA Tour events, a run that was unequaled until Byron Nelson won 11 in a row in 1945. Farrell taught five U.S. presidents and was, according to Gary Player, “the perfect gentleman.” Members of the Farrell family who were present all wore two-tone golf shoes with his name on the heel, specially made by FootJoy to mark their long association with Farrell.
In 2014 Michelle Wie West won the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst. Who better, a decade on at the same venue, to talk of female athletes in introducing the founders of the LPGA who formed the organisation in 1950. Nancy Lopez accepted their induction on their behalf.
“It is a time to be a female athlete,” Wie West said.
In a video tribute, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, the LPGA’s commissioner, said: “These women were playing the best golf they possibly could, but they were also running the whole league. And they were doing it at a time when people weren’t sure they should be doing it.”
Beth Daniel, Wie West’s fellow LPGA member, said: “There are obstacles enough now. Imagine what it must have been like in 1950.”
Mike Whan, chief executive of the USGA and a director of the WGHOF, described the hall’s coming home to Pinehurst as “… returning to the cradle of golf. There is history in this room, in this village,” Whan said.
It fell to Harrington to have the last word, and it was appropriate. No one who knows him cannot be struck by his loquacity.
Peter Jacobsen gave a moving tribute to the late Payne Stewart, who won the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, and Mike Hicks, Stewart’s caddie, added the simple words: “He is basically immortal.”
The work of Steph Curry, the basketball player, to spread the growth of golf among underrepresented young people through his Underrated Golf and its expansion into Europe was marked by his receiving the award named in honor of the late Charlie Sifford. “This award … honors recipients for their spirit in advancing diversity in the game of golf,” the WGHOF said in a statement. “Charlie Sifford is remembered for his groundbreaking achievements and historic contributions in breaking barriers for generations of minority golfers who would follow in his footsteps.”
There was only one way for Jim Nantz, the CBS TV announcer who is considered to be the voice of golf, to begin his introduction of Tom Weiskopf, the 1973 Open champion who won 16 times on the PGA Tour, and had four Masters runners-up – two of them to Nicklaus. It had to be Nantz’s famous phrase “Hello, friends,” his signature greeting, and it was. Nantz said Weiskopf went on to be a TV colleague and later made a distinct mark as a golf course architect, noting that it was “remarkable, considering … that he did not begin golf until he was 16.” Jack Nicklaus once paid a rare tribute to his rival and fellow Ohioan by saying Weiskopf “…was more correct at more points of the swing than any other player who ever lived…”
It fell to Harrington to have the last word, and it was appropriate. No one who knows him cannot be struck by his loquacity. Everyone who had helped him achieve all he had in golf was thanked, and many were in the audience. He pointed out how important long relationships were to him, with his wife of 34 years, his caddie, the same equipment company, and his manager – all of at least 20 years. And he reminded us of the words said often to him by Bob Torrance, the golf coach and father of Sam: “These are the happiest days of your life.”
That Monday night, they were for many.
“Who cares?” someone remarked after a ceremony that had lasted 90 minutes. “It was a wonderful occasion for the inductees and their families, an honor to them and a credit to golf.”
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