Multiple former major winners Vijay Singh and Larry Nelson celebrated their elevation to the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida.
Fijian Singh, who started out as a club professional in Borneo, and American Nelson, a Vietnam War veteran, were inducted at the World Golf Village as part of the class of 2006 on Monday.
"People think that once you get in the Hall of Fame you're over the hill," three-time major champion Singh told a news conference.
"But it's very odd that it first got mentioned that I was in the Hall of Fame two years ago and that was the first time that I've ever heard it.
"I still feel that I'm very competitive and I'm probably going to have one of my best years to come. I feel that way, and I believe in that." Singh, who ended Tiger Woods's five-year reign as world number one in September 2004, has won 29 titles on the PGA Tour since first playing the circuit in 1993.
His major victories came at the 1998 PGA Championship, the 2000 Masters and the 2004 PGA Championship.
DEFERRED INDUCTION
The 43-year-old Fijian was elected for the Hall of Fame on the Tour ballot in 2005 but deferred his induction by a year because of a scheduling conflict.
Nelson, who won the 1983 U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in 1981 and 1987, was also elected on the PGA Tour ballot, securing 65 percent of the vote.
Singh and Nelson were inducted along with Marilynn Smith, one of 13 founders of the LPGA and a winner of 21 LPGA Tour titles, and (posthumously) Henry Picard and Mark McCormack.
American Picard, who died on April 30, 1997, was selected through the veteran's category after a glittering career that included the 1938 U.S. Masters title, the 1939 U.S. PGA Championship crown and 24 other PGA Tour victories.
Compatriot McCormack, who died on May 16, 2003 after failing to recover from a heart attack, was a pioneer of the sports marketing industry and founder of golf's official world rankings.
He gained his Hall of Fame status through the lifetime achievement category.
The quintet's induction has lifted the Hall of Fame membership to 114.
