Many of the greatest names in golf have had their names etched into the history books with a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame - solidifying a legendary status that transcends time.
Padraig Harrington was part of the most recent class of inductees (2024), while an emotional Tiger Woods was honoured with a place in the Hall of Fame two years before in 2022.
Clearly, not everyone can get in however. There is a strict but quite transparent criteria for induction, but I strongly believe one particular player has slipped through the cracks.
This forgotten man is perhaps not someone many modern golf fans will have heard of, but his incredible achievements certainly deserve recognition nonetheless.
In this article, we explore the professional resume of the most qualified omission from the World Golf Hall of Fame...
The 25-Time PGA Tour Winner Who Is Not In The Hall Of Fame
Before we start, it's probably worth exploring what a player needs to do in order to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
This illustrious accolade is reserved for players that meet certain criteria, receive adequate nominations and pass a vote from a selection committee.
This is actually quite a complicated system, but essentially a player is eligible if they are at least 45 years old (or five years removed from active competition) and with 15+ wins on approved tours or at least two Major victories.
The criteria for selection has changed frequently over the years, most recently in 2020, but through all the shifting goalposts it appears one man has been missed (or omitted) and I can't really understand why.
Macdonald 'Mac' Smith was an extremely successful professional golfer whose career spanned from the 1910s to the mid-1930s.
At the time of writing, he is the player with the most PGA Tour victories who is eligible but not inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Considered as one of the best golfers never to win one of the four men's Major Championships, Smith recorded 25 PGA Tour wins and was agonisingly close to success on the greatest stage in our sport.
Three runner-up finishes in Majors (US Open in 1930, Open Championship in 1930 and 1932), including twice to the great amateur Bobby Jones, meant Smith didn't quite tick the Major box in the selection criteria, but his PGA Tour successes surely made up for that.
Born in 1890, Smith spent his childhood on the Carnoustie Links. He was part of Scottish golfing family with a set of recognisable names, including brothers Willie and Alex Smith.
Both of his brothers won Major Championships themselves, each taking a US Open title, with Alex actually edging out Macdonald (3rd) in 1910 to claim the victory.
Macdonald Smith also served as the professional at Oakmont Country Club, from 1934 until his passing in 1949.
Smith was inducted into the PGA Hall of Fame in 1954, five years after his death, but never was never formally inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame following the merging of the two entities in the 1980s.
It is widely believed that Smith has been overlooked due to a lack of Major success, but many would argue that his PGA Tour wins combined with three Major runner-up finished (two to the great Bobby Jones) easily merits a place in this famous institution.
