So Ireland’s Christy O’Connor will join Lanny Wadkins and Jose Maria Olazabal as 2009 inductees to the World Golf Hall of Fame. Is this an egregiously bad choice? Of course not, for O’Connor, an elite player on the pre-European Tour of the 1960s, is a living legend in his native land, a two-time British Masters and Vardon Trophy winner, and a 10-time Ryder Cupper, among myriad other achievements. But...

O’Connor also never won a Major championship which, to my lights at least, places him among Hall of Fame members whose historical impact played as large a role in the selection process as their career ledgers did. Fair enough. But by that criterion – and with due respect to O’Connor’s impressive list of British and Irish victories – both Norman von Nida and Sid Brews (pioneering professionals in Australia and South Africa respectively) now seem even more egregious ommissions .

Anyway, rather than spending half an hour penning a glowing tribute to the man known throughout the Emerald Isle as Himself, I once again steal from The Book of Golfers, wherein I wrote:

CHRISTY O’CONNOR (Ireland)

A living legend of Irish golf, Galway’s Christy O’Connor (b.12/21/1924) was a farmer’s son who learned the game as a caddie before turning professional in 1951. Initially he only competed in Ireland, a fact which bears a certain irony for despite a long and prolific career, O’Connor never managed to win an Irish Open. He did, however, take the old Carrolls International four times between 1964-72, a modest title to be sure, but O’Connor’s winning of it did much to expand the game’s popularity on his home soil.

Blessed with a long and wonderfully rhythmic swing, O’Connor was both a superb ball-striker and a pleasure to watch, that is until he reached the putting surface where an entirely different sort of battle was undertaken. That he never won an Open Championship is still mourned by his surviving legions, particularly as he was many times close. Indeed he appeared among the top six finishers on seven occasions between 1958-69, including third in 1961, second in 1965 (two behind Peter Thomson) and his closest call, a tie for third in 1958, when a bogey off a bunkered tee shot at the 72nd kept him out of the Thomson-Dave Thomas playoff.

O’Connor did, however, enjoy much success in Britain, claiming three titles that ranked only behind the Open in prestige: the 1957 News of the World match play at Turnberry, and the 1956 and ’59 British Masters, the latter of which came over amateur Joe Carr during one of the event’s rare visits to Portmarnock. O’Connor also twice won the Vardon Trophy for leading the pre-European Tour Order of Merit (1961 and ’62) and finished second on seven further occasions during the 1960s. Internationally, he appeared in 15 World Cups (teaming with Harry Bradshaw to claim Ireland’s first victory in 1958 in Mexico City) and also set a Ryder Cup record by playing in 10 consecutive matches between 1955-73, a mark later broken by Nick Faldo.

Known affectionately in Ireland as “Himself” in deference to his golfing stature and immense popularity, O’Connor will forever be grouped with that nation’s two other postwar stars Harry Bradshaw and Fred Daly. The debate over who was best is an endless one, though O’Connor’s great longevity certainly made him a much larger presence in the contemporary conscience.