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Strange And Pak Highlight Hall Of Fame Class Of '07
   posted 9:40 pm Mon November 12, 2007 -
(Sports Network) - Back-to-back U.S. Open winner Curtis Strange and LPGA star Se Ri Pak highlight a group of six inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Monday.
ABC 7 News - Strange And Pak Highlight Hall Of Fame Class Of '07
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Hubert Green, Kel Nagle, Charles Blair Macdonald and amateur great Joe Carr were also enshrined as part of the 2007 class.

Strange, elected on the PGA Tour ballot, collected his first major championship at the 1988 U.S. Open at Brookline. He got up and down for par on the 72nd hole to match Nick Faldo, then trounced the six-time major winner 71-75 in the Monday playoff for his national title.

ABC 7 News myTAKE - What's Your Opinion? One year later at Oak Hill, Strange hung tough with 15 pars on Sunday, but a birdie at the 70th hole gave him the lead. He hung on to become the first player to win consecutive U.S. Opens since Ben Hogan in 1951.

Strange, who squandered the 1985 Masters title on the back nine Sunday, never won after his U.S. Open title at Oak Hill. He finished with 17 PGA Tour victories, five Ryder Cup appearances, one captaincy in 2002 and an individual NCAA Championship.

Pak, who got in through the LPGA Point System, became the youngest person inducted when she qualified at the age of 29. She owns 24 LPGA Tour titles, including five majors, but her best-known work may have been off the course.

At the 1998 U.S. Women's Open, Pak survived a 21-hole playoff against amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn for her first major title. She added the LPGA Championship that year to join Juli Inkster as the only players to win two majors in rookie campaigns.

Pak's rookie season is credited with starting the influx of Korean-born players that now dominate the LPGA Tour. Six Koreans are in the top 20 of the current Rolex Rankings, led by Pak, who is No. 8.

Pak endured a career slump not seen by many. In 2005, her best finish was a tie for 27th thanks in part to injuries and burnout. Pak rebounded to win the 2006 LPGA Championship in a playoff against fellow Hall of Famer, Karrie Webb, and captured this year's Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.

Green won 19 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1977 U.S. Open and 1985 PGA Championship. What makes these achievements all the more impressive is that Green played in the era of Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and several other Hall of Famers.

Green is best known for his performance in the final round of the '77 U.S. Open at Southern Hills. Ahead by one, Green was told by security and tournament officials that three men were coming to kill him on that green. He continued on and won his first major title.

The following year, Green trailed Gary Player by a stroke at the Masters and hit his second inside four feet. He got distracted by a radio announcer, missed the putt and lost his only real chance at a green jacket.

Green, the 1971 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, Green won four times on the Champions Tour. He was diagnosed with oral cancer in 2003, but underwent chemotherapy and radiation and still plays.

The Australian Nagle sank a 10-foot par putt on the "Road Hole" 17th at St. Andrews to hold off Arnold Palmer and win the 1960 British Open Championship.

He won more than 60 times on the Australasian Tour and 17 additional times overseas. Nagle almost won another major at the 1965 U.S. Open, but lost an 18-hole playoff to Player, 71-74.

Nagle and Green were both voted in through the Veteran's Category.

Macdonald, a Canadian, designed the first two 18-hole courses in America. He participated in two attempts at crowning a national amateur championship, but complained the rules were inconsistent. After his complaints, five clubs came together to form what would later become the United States Golf Association.

The Irishman Carr, who like Macdonald, got in via the Lifetime Achievement category, won three British Amateur titles and was a Walker Cup standout. In 1991, Carr was selected as the first Irish captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.





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