Colin Montgomerie was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame back in 2013, but did Gary Player think it was deserved?
Montgomerie, now 62, is arguably the best player in the history of the game never to have won a major championship.
The Scot also failed to taste victory in America but he still forged a quite incredible career for himself in the professional game.
He won 54 times worldwide, with 31 of those coming on the European Tour (now the DP World Tour).
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Montgomerie’s success was built on his exceptional accuracy off the tee and pinpoint iron play.
Interestingly, Montgomerie recently highlighted how the game has completely changed over the past decade or so, with explosive power now a necessity, rather than a luxury.
While the game has undoubtedly evolved, the criteria for being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame certainly has not.
Gary Player’s opinion on whether Colin Montgomerie deserved Hall of Fame induction
Montgomerie was inducted into the Hall of Fame 13 years ago, alongside 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples.
There were suggestions that the Scot wasn’t fully deserving of his place in the Hall of Fame, due to the fact that he never won a major during his career.
And Player gave his opinion on the matter when speaking to The Florida Times-Union.
“I think they’re very deserving,“ Player said.
“Colin led the European Tour money list eight times. Will we ever see that again? And Freddie is a very fine representative of golf in addition to being a terrific player.
“There are guys in the Hall of Fame who didn’t win majors. Chi Chi [Rodriguez] didn’t win a major. [Isao] Aoki didn’t win a major. Is that the criteria now, that you have to have won a major? I’m very happy to see both of those guys go in. They really deserve it.“
Well said, Mr Player.
Montgomerie’s career is one that most professional golfers can only dream of. The fact that he’s major-less should not count against him and fortunately for him, it clearly didn’t.
So why was Colin Montgomerie inducted into the Hall of Fame?
Montgomerie’s Ryder Cup record was surely taken into account when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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He appeared on eight European teams, five of them successful, and captained the winning side at Celtic Manor in 2010.
Montgomerie has the fifth most Ryder Cup points in history to his name, with 23.5.
The 31-time European Tour winner is highly respected in the game and it’s a huge shame that he never managed to win a major.
He came incredibly close at the US Open in 1992, 1997 and 2006, and he should have got over the line in at least one of them.
However, as Player said, Montgomerie not having a major championship to his name does not mean that he was undeserving of his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
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