Columnist Peter Benton: Singh headlines list of players on 2005 Hall of Fame ballot

Peter Benton

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

The World Golf Hall of Fame, which currently has 104 members, recently released the names of 33 golfers on the 2005 ballot list. In all, 19 of the 22 PGA tour/Champions tour ballot candidates are major championship winners.

Vijay Singh, the 2004 PGA tour player of the year, headlines the list which also includes active Champions tour members Larry Nelson, Fuzzy Zoeller and Lanny Wadkins.

Nelson, winner of 10 PGA tour events, including two PGA Championships and a U.S. Open, added two wins in 2004, bringing his Champions tour victory total to 21. Zoeller, who also recorded 10 PGA tour victories including the 1997 Masters and the 1984 U.S. Open, picked up his third Champions tour title at the 2004 MasterCard Championship.

Curtis Strange, a two-time U.S. Open winner, is the leading returning vote-getter on the PGA tour/Champions tour ballot.

The balloting, which includes both the PGA tour/Champions tour and International ballots, determines the Class of 2005, which will be inducted into The World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., on Nov. 14.

The 2005 PGA tour/Champions tour nominees are: Miller Barber, Bob Charles, Fred Couples, Doug Ford, Hubert Green, Don January, Lee Janzen, Tony Lema, Davis Love III, Harold "Jug" McSpaden, Nelson, Mark O'Meara, Henry Pickard, Denny Shute, Singh, Macdonald Smith, Dave Stockton, Strange, Ken Venturi, Wadkins, Craig Wood and Zoeller.

Those on the International ballot include: Peter Alliss, Max Faulkner, Sandy Lyle, Graham Marsh, Colin Montgomery, Kel Nagle, Christy O'Connor Sr., Masaha "Jumbo" Ozaki, Ayako Okamoto, Norman Von Nida and Ian Woosnam.

This four-person scramble event has a $500 per team entry fee and will commence with a continental breakfast. An awards ceremony will take place in the clubhouse at the conclusion of play, where Mayor Oscar Goodman will present the team victors, closest-to-the-pin and longest drive winners with their prizes.

Full entry information is available by calling 383-4655.

Both players have previous Ryder Cup experience, competing together for the U.S. at the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. Pavin was also a U.S. team member in 1991 and 1993 and owns an 8-5-0 match record. Roberts is 3-1-0.

A year ago, the tournament moved from its traditional late fall date to last week, accommodating the tour's desire to follow the PGA tour's model of opening its season with two tournaments in Hawaii.

In 2003, Irwin became the first Champions tour player to win the same event four consecutive years -- which is not five in a row -- and six Turtle Bay championship titles overall.