Folkloreando.com

It is time to blow up golf's Hall of Fame.

Not the physical structure in St. Augustine, Fla., a must-see for any golf fan. The World Golf Hall of Fame golf clubs for saledoes an excellent job of presenting the game's history, as well as artifacts and mementos from the inductees. You could spend hours there, and still feel a need to come back for more.

No, this is about how Hall members get there. With ballots due next week, here are three major flaws with the World Golf Hall process.

1. Eligibility. Phil Mickelson went on the ballot this year, and by any measure, he is a Hall of Famer. Titleist Scotty Cameron Studio Select Laguna 2 PutterHe has 39 PGA Tour victories, including four major championships. That puts him among the top 10 in victories all time and just 18 players have won more than four majors. He got a vote here because he is eligible.

But he shouldn't be eligible. Not yet. Having 10 victories and being past the age of 40 gets you on the ballot.Nike Victory Red STR8-FIT Tour Fairway Woods Mickelson is 41 and still competing, just as Ernie Els -- who went into the Hall this year -- is still competing.

Other sports require five years from retirement before a player goes on the ballot, but because golf is a sport in which players rarely "retire'' why not set the ballot age at 50? By that point, any Hall credentials are typically on the résumé. And it would be a good boost for the Champions Tour, to have its newest members get Hall of Fame recognition.

2. International ballot. Why is there one? This is a "world" Hall of Fame, so why the distinction between Americans and those who are international players? Retief Goosen, who has played on the PGA Tour for years, is on a separate ballot from Mickelson.Titleist AP1 712 Irons 3-9 There should be no such distinction.

And then there is the LPGA Tour. Again, this is a world Hall, but the LPGA Tour has separate qualification criteria for inclusion. It is based on a points system that takes any perceived biases out of the system. You win enough tournaments, or majors, or player of the year honors, or low scoring titles, and you're in. That's why players such as Karrie Webb and Lorena Ochoa made it into the Hall before they even turned 30. Amazing accomplishments, but it's time to re-examine and include all of women's golf in the process.

3. The voters. Who are they? The Hall says some 300 people are sent ballots. Some get the PGA Tour ballot only, some the international ballot only, some both. There is no official breakdown. Hall members get a vote, as do various media members and golf officials. Who knows how much effort any of them make to educate themselves on the players.

Case in point: there seems to be a clear bias toward current players. It makes sense. Those are the guys we see or have seen. But it helps explain why a player such as Macdonald Smith has never made it into the Hall. He won 24 times on the PGA Tour, including four Western Opens during an era when that was every bit as big as the British Open and the U.S. Open. Smith played most of his career prior to the birth of the Masters, a tournament he played just once Titleist AP2 712 Irons 2012 3-9(tied for seventh) in 1934. Smith did have 17 top-10s in the majors, including a playoff lost to his brother, Alex, at the 1910 U.S. Open.

Another example is Sandy Lyle. Because he is not from America, does he get slighted? Lyle won the British Open, Masters and became the first international player to capture the Players Championship. He was a big part of Europe's rise in golf, along with Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer. Guess who is the only one not in? The solution: narrow down the voters, and identify them.

The voting closes on Oct. 7, with the newest members of the Hall to be inducted on May 7, 2012, during the week of the Players Championship.

For the record, the voting tally here went like this: PGA Tour (allowed to vote for four) -- Mickelson, Smith, Davis Love, Tony Lema. International (allowed three) -- Lyle, Peter Alliss, Norman Von Nida.