Flight delay makes Laura Davies late for World Golf Hall of Fame induction at St. Andrews

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Laura Davies was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Monday, even though she wasn’t around to enjoy all of it.

A four-hour flight delay out of Philadelphia forced her to miss the induction.

In a rush to the University of St. Andrews, she at least watched the ceremony on Sky Sports in the car, but when her pre-recorded video came on, the signal went out and she missed her speech and that of Mark O’Meara. She finally made it to the reception, a surprise to hundreds of guests who thought she had abandoned efforts to get there.

“Everything that seems to happen to me is weird,” Davies said at the reception.

Not her place in the Hall of Fame. That was earned with four major titles, more than 70 wins around the world and becoming such a dominant force in women’s golf that she starred on the LPGA Tour and still took time to crisscross the Atlantic Ocean to support the Ladies European Tour.

Davies was inducted along with major champions Mark O’Meara and David Graham of Australia and architect A.W. Tillinghast, who studied under Old Tom Morris and created golf courses that hosted majors.

O’Meara won 16 times on the PGA Tour, including the Masters and British Open in 1998 when he became at age 41 the oldest player to win two majors in one year. He also won the U.S. Amateur and titles around the world.

Graham won three majors — twice at the PGA Championship and the 1981 U.S. Open at Merion when he putted for birdie on every hole in the final round.

Tillinghast was inducted posthumously and perhaps was overdue. He designed more than 250 courses, including Winged Foot, Baltusrol, Bethpage Black, Ridgewood and San Francisco Golf Club.