Younger world-class players went into changing World Golf Hall of Fame age requirement

World Golf Foundation CEO Greg McLaughlin said the reason for lowering the age of eligibility for induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine from 50 to 45 was simple: the best plWayers in the world are getting younger all the time.

"The [Foundation] board's view is that we wanted to insure the greatest players were recognized at the proper time," McLaughlin told the Times-Union on Wednesday. "The best player and the winners are getting younger all the time. It's our hope that lowering the age enables us to bring greater attention to those players and their careers earlier, rather than wait until they're 50."

RELATED: Read more golf coverage

The next Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled for 2021. McLaughlin said the nominating committee will meet soon and an induction class could be announced as soon as early April.

The WGF board announced the change in age on Tuesday, along with an expansion of the voting body to 20 members and streamlining the induction categories. Nominees will be required to get 15 of 20 votes for induction.

Half of the current top-20 on the World Golf Rankings are 30 or younger, including the top four: Brooks Koepka (29), Rory McIlroy (30), Jon Rahm (25) and Justin Thomas (26). Fifteen of the top-20 are 35 or younger.

Eight of the 14 PGA Tour events played so far this season have been won by players 30 or younger, and 12 by players 35 or younger.

The Hall of Fame has had three age requirements to induction since it was established in 1998. It began with a minimum age of 40, was raised to 50 in 2016, before McLaughlin took over as not only the CEO of the World Golf Foundation but the Hall of Fame as well, and is now back to 45.

McLaughlin said no individual player's pending nomination went into the decision to change the age, but Tiger Woods turns 45 on Dec. 30 of this year. He said players can be elected to the Hall of Fame at 44, as long as they turn 45 at some point during the year they're inducted.

That also makes Zach Johnson and Henrik Stenson, who turn 45 next year, eligible for induction in 2021. Johnson won the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship; and Stenson won the 2016 Open and the 2009 Players Championship.

Other players under 50 who are now eligible include 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk of Ponte Vedra Beach (49) and three-time major champion Padraig Harrington (48).

McLaughlin said the 2021 induction ceremony will follow the pattern of those held since 2017 when the event was moved from being held annually in St. Augustine to every two years at the site of major championship or a significant event. Since then, ceremonies have been held at St. Andrews, New York and Pebble Beach.

If Woods is voted in, two sites may leap to the front of the line: Torrey Pines near San Diego, where he won the 2008 U.S. Open in a 19-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate, while playing on a fractured leg; or St. Andrews, where Woods won the 2000 and 2005 Open Championships. The 2021 U.S. Open returns to Torrey Pines and the Open Championship later that year will be on the St. Andrews Old Course.

Woods is a native of Southern California and also had won seven times at the PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines, the Farmers Insurance Open, which begins on Thursday.

McLaughlin didn't rule out an induction ceremony returning to St. Augustine in the future -- just not in 2021.

"We look at two things when considering sites for the induction ceremony," he said. "Attendance and we like to have as many past Hall of Fame members attend as we can. We have a better chance of that at the site of a major, or in cities such as New York or Los Angeles.

___

(c)2020 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)

Visit The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) at www.jacksonville.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.