Ballots Released for 2011 World Golf Hall of Fame Class


On June 8th, the World Golf Hall of Fame released the Class of 2011 PGA Tour and International Ballots to its voting bodies, including current Hall of Fame members, golf journalists, historians and dignitaries. The ballots are due in July and an announcement for the 2011 Class of Inductees will be made later this year.

Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are the newest players added to the PGA Tour and International ballots, respectively, having met the qualifying criteria by the January 1, 2010 deadline. The complete list of candidates is below.

The annual World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, traditionally held in the fall, will take place in the spring 2011. A specific date and venue has yet to be announced.

"Releasing the ballots is always an exciting time of the year for the Hall of Fame," said Hall of Fame Chief Operating Officer Jack Peter. "We look forward to identifying the next Hall of Fame Inductees through this process which will determine both elected ballot results and Lifetime Achievement and Veterans selections. Additionally, the move to a spring date creates an opportunity for us to stage the induction ceremony at a time of year when interest in golf is very high."

Els' career includes the 1994 and 1997 U.S. Open Championships, the 2002 Open Championship, 15 additional PGA Tour wins and 44 international victories. He became eligible for the PGA Tour Ballot after his 10th year on Tour in 2004, and met the final qualification for that ballot when he turned 40 late last year. To date, he has competed on six Presidents Cup teams and has twice garnered the European Tour Order of Merit.

Goosen's achievements include winning the 2001 and '04 U.S. Open Championships, along with an additional 12 European Tour, 10 Sunshine Tour and five PGA Tour titles. To date, he has been selected to five Presidents Cup teams and has earned the European Tour Order of Merit twice. While earning the necessary points for the International Ballot in 2003, he met the final qualifying criteria when he turned 40 last year.

Two modifications to the ballot process will take effect this year. All living members of the World Golf Hall of Fame will vote on both PGA Tour and International ballots. Additionally, all candidates on the ballots will remain in consideration indefinitely unless he/she receives less than 5% of the votes for two consecutive years.

The World Golf Hall of Fame Advisory Board can nominate in both the Lifetime Achievement and Veterans categories. Members of the International Voting Body are eligible to nominate candidates for the Lifetime Achievement Category. Both Lifetime Achievement and Veterans categories are determined by the World Golf Foundation Board of Directors.

To learn more about the World Golf Hall of Fame, visit www.WorldGolfHallofFame.org.

Class of 2011 PGA Tour Ballot Candidates

Miller Barber
Fred Couples
Ernie Els
Doug Ford
Jay Haas
Don January
Tony Lema
Davis Love III
Harold (Jug) McSpaden
Mark O'Meara
Kenny Perry
Macdonald Smith
Dave Stockton
Ken Venturi
Fuzzy Zoeller

Class of 2011 International Ballot Candidates

Peter Alliss
Darren Clarke
Max Faulkner
Retief Goosen
Sandy Lyle
Graham Marsh
Colin Montgomerie
Norman Von Nida
Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki
Ian Woosnam