Ireland’s Harrington among World Golf Hall of Fame inductees

Irish golfer Padraig Harrington, a three-time major champion, was among the inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Monday.

Also entering the new Hall, which opens this week at Pinehurst after a move from Florida, were Sandra Palmer, the late Tom Weiskopf, Johnny Farrell and Beverly Hanson plus the 13 LPGA Founders.

Harrington, a 52-year-old from Dublin, won the 2007 and 2008 British Opens and the 2008 PGA Championship. He was European Tour Golfer of the Year in 2007 and 2008, the Order of Merit winner in 2006 and US PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2008.

“This is very exciting,” Harrington said. “It’s somewhat humbling. At this stage of my life, it gives me some validation to what I’ve done in golf. This is a deep-down satisfaction and I’m very proud to be included with the players before me.”

Palmer won 19 LPGA Tour titles, including two majors, the 1972 Titleholders Championship and 1975 US Women’s Open.

The LPGA was founded in 1950 by 13 original players, including Alice Bauer, Bettye Danoff, Helen Dettweiler, Helen Hicks, Opal Hill, Sally Sessions and Shirley Spork, who join prior inductees Patty Berg, Marlene Bauer Hagge, Louise Suggs, Babe Zaharias, Marilynn Smith and Betty Jameson.

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