Love III heads World Golf Hall of Fame class

New York - Two-time US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, hailing golf as a game that "has improved my life in every way, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Tuesday alongside Ian Woosnam, Lorena Ochoa and Meg Mallon.

The four players were welcomed to the hall along with the late British golf writer Henry Longhurst in a ceremony in New York City held in conjunction with this week's Presidents Cup.

Love, who won his lone major at the 1997 PGA Championship, was introduced to the game by his father, a respected teaching pro who died in a plane crash just as Love was establishing himself among the professional ranks.

He held his granddaughter in his arms as he called the induction "the greatest honour of my life".

Love was 51 when he won his most recent PGA Tour title two years ago. Mexico's Ochoa opted to retire in 2010 when she was 28 and still ranked number one in the world.

She recalled her husband, Andres Conseca, taking her to the World Golf Hall of Fame in Florida 10 years ago - and predicting they'd return with their family to see her enshrined there.

"And it came true," said Ochoa, whose 21 career victories include two majors. "Now I feel the luckiest woman in the world."

Wales' Woosnam, introduced by South African great Gary Player as a "wee giant" recalled his 14-year-old self telling a member at his club in Wales that he wanted to be a professional golfer.

"He tapped me on the head and said, 'Well, if you want to try to achieve all that, you're going to have to grow a little,'" Woosnam said.

"I did grow a little - about four inches," added Woosnam, whose small stature was no impediment in a career that included a 1991 Masters title and a 50 weeks atop the world rankings.

"Woosie" was a European Tour Order of Merit winner and a two-time European Player of the Year. A five-time Ryder Cup winner in eight appearances as a player, he captained the victorious European side in 2006.

Mallon, whose 18 LPGA titles included four majors, recalled the support of a large family and her tennis champion mother's encouragement.

And she remembered her own youthful single-mindedness, which drove her to practice hitting balls against the wall of her Detroit home.

"My mind was filled with dreams of being a professional athlete," Mallon said. "That young girl stands in front of you tonight humble but bursting with pride about being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame."

Members in the World Golf Hall of Fame and the year of their induction:

1974

Patty Berg

Walter Hagen

Ben Hogan

Betty Jameson

Bobby Jones

Byron Nelson

Jack Nicklaus

Francis Ouimet

Arnold Palmer

Gary Player

Gene Sarazen

Sam Snead

Harry Vardon

Babe Zaharias

1975

Willie Anderson

Fred Corcoran

Joseph C. Dey

Chick Evans

Tom Morris Jr.

John H. Taylor

Glenna C. Vare

Joyce Wethered

1976

Tommy Armour

James Braid

Tom Morris Sr.

Jerry Travers

Mickey Wright

1977

John Ball

Herb Graffis

Sandra Haynie

Bobby Locke

Carol Mann

Donald Ross

1978

Billy Casper

Bing Crosby

Harold Hilton

Dorothy Campbell Hurd Howe

Clifford Roberts

1979

Louise Suggs

Walter Travis

1980

Henry Cotton

Lawson Little

1981

Ralph Guldahl

Lee Trevino

1982

Julius Boros

Kathy Whitworth

1983

Jimmy Demaret

Bob Hope

1985

JoAnne Carner

1986

Cary Middlecoff

1987

Robert Trent Jones

Betsy Rawls

1988

Robert Harlow

Peter Thomson

Tom Watson

1989

James Barnes

Robert De Vicenzo

Raymond Floyd

Nancy Lopez

1990

Paul Runyan

Gene Littler

William Campbell

Horton Smith

1991

Pat Bradley

1992

Hale Irwin

Chi Chi Rodriguez

Richard Tufts

Harry Cooper

1993

Patty Sheehan

1994

Dinah Shore

1995

Betsy King

1998

Nick Faldo

Johnny Miller

1999

Amy Alcott

Seve Ballesteros

2000

Beth Daniel

Juli Inkster

Judy Rankin

Deane Beman

Michael Bonallack

Jackie Burke

Neil Coles

John Jacobs

2001

Greg Norman

Payne Stewart

Donna Caponi

Judy Bell

Allan Robertson

Karsten Solheim

2002

Bernhard Langer

Ben Crenshaw

Tony Jacklin

Marlene Hagge

2003

Leo Diegel

Chako Higuchi

Nick Price

Annika Sorenstam

2004

Isao Aoki

Tom Kite

Charlie Sifford

Marlene Stewart Streit

2005

Karrie Webb

Ayako Okamoto

Willie Park Sr.

Alister Mackenzie

Bernard Darwin

2006

Vijay Singh

Henry Picard

Larry Nelson

Mark McCormack

Marilynn Smith

2007

Curtis Strange

Hubert Green

Se Ri Pak

Kel Nagle

Joe Carr

2008

Pete Dye

Craig Wood

Denny Shute

Carole Semple Thompson

Bob Charles

Herbert Warren Wind

2009

Lanny Wadkins

Christy O'Connor Sr.

Jose Maria Olazabal

Dwight D. Eisenhower

2011

Ernie Els

Jumbo Ozaki

Doug Ford

Jock Hutchison

George H.W. Bush.

2012

Phil Mickelson

Sandy Lyle

Peter Alliss

Dan Jenkins

Hollis Stacy

2013

Fred Couples

Ken Venturi

Willie Park Jr.

Colin Montgomerie

Ken Schofield

2015

Laura Davies

Mark O'Meara

David Graham

A.W. Tillinghast

2017

Henry Longhurst

Davis Love III

Meg Mallon

Lorena Ochoa

Ian Woosnam