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          Quick 9: Trying to solve golf's Hall of Fame problems

          Golf luminaries such as Jack Nicklaus were among nearly three dozen World Golf Hall of Fame members on site for the class of 2017 induction ceremony on Tuesday in New York City. Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
          • Bob Harig, ESPN Senior WriterSep 27, 2017, 06:42 PM
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            • Senior golf writer for ESPN.com
            • Covered golf for more than 20 years
            • Earned Evans Scholarship to attend Indiana University

          1. The Hall of Fame blues
          The World Golf Hall of Fame held its induction ceremony in New York City on Tuesday night, with Davis Love III, Ian Woosnam, Lorena Ochoa, Meg Mallon and the late writer Henry Longhurst being honored.

          Numerous golf dignitaries attended, including Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Hale Irwin, Curtis Strange, Nancy Lopez, Annika Sorenstam and some 30-plus who are in the Hall. LPGA players -- such as Michelle Wie, Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis and Morgan Pressel -- all showed up.

          But no current PGA Tour players attended, including those just a few miles away who are participating in this week's Presidents Cup.

          That seemed particularly jarring for Love, who is an assistant captain this week to U.S. captain Steve Stricker, along with Jim Furyk, Fred Couples and Tiger Woods. None of them attended, nor did Hall of Famers Nick Price and Ernie Els, captain and assistant captain of the International squad.

          This is in no way meant to disparage them. The Presidents Cup is a busy week. There are duties for the players and assistants from the moment they arrive on site, functions that are required, meetings and media obligations. Whether they could have attended or not is unclear.

          But it speaks more to the issue of how difficult it is to make the Hall of Fame a big celebration for the entire golf world to attend.

          2. What is the fix?
          Colleague Jason Sobel and I tackled the topic of the Hall of Fame and some of its flaws, but a big one is when to stage the festivities. A few years ago, Hall officials decided to tie it into some of big events, every two years. In 2015, the ceremony was in St. Andrews, Scotland in conjunction with The Open. This year it was in New York during the week of the Presidents Cup.

          The Hall struggled to get players to attend when the ceremony was held in conjunction with the Players Championship. And this is proving to be no better.

          The big problem? Golf's crammed schedule.

          No matter when the Hall of Fame induction is held, it would suffer from absences. Justin Thomas, for example, talked after his FedEx victory on Sunday how much he is looking forward some time off after playing events in Malaysia and South Korea next month.

          He wasn't talking about the Hall of Fame, but when you consider the hectic schedule of those involved in the game, finding the right time and place is a challenge.

          It is a shame the ceremony cannot be more of a celebration of the game. To have the likes of Nicklaus and Player and Sorenstam and so many others in attendance is great. And yet while it could be bigger and better, figuring out how to make that happen is far from easy.

          3. Where to go from here
          After winning five times, capturing the FedEx Cup and almost certainly PGA Tour player of the year honors, Thomas is well aware that he now has to figure out how to build on such a great year. In doing so, he said he would consult with Woods and Jordan Spieth when time permits.

          "I need to understand how to re-evaluate my goals, how to reset my goals, how to deal with everything,'' Thomas said. "I'm going to have a lot more obligations. I'm going to have a lot more people wanting my time. I'm going to have a lot higher expectations from you guys, from the fans, from everything. So I'm going to need to understand and get better at handling all of it. I'm going to rely on guys like them and other guys a lot just to help me out to get a good idea and game plan.''

          4. A huge victory
          Xander Schauffele's Tour Championship victory, unfortunately, was somewhat overshadowed by Thomas winning the FedEx Cup -- even though Schauffele beat Thomas by 1 stroke to earn the tournament title.

          Thomas himself noted that irony, and to his credit, said it was weird to be celebrating such a big victory (make no mistake, winning the FedEx Cup is big) when he was annoyed by not winning the tournament.

          Still, Schauffele deserves recognition for an amazing achievement, coming from nowhere to not only qualify for the Tour Championship, but also to win it. It took him just 62 weeks to go from outside the top 1,000 in the world to inside the top 50.

          5. Domination
          To put in perspective just how much the United States has owned the Presidents Cup over the years, the Americans have not trailed after any session of the event since 2005. That's 26 sessions in which the U.S. has been on top.

          6. A different era
          The only time the International side defeated the Americans was in 1998 at Royal Melbourne. That week, current International captain Nick Price was ranked sixth in the world. And Tiger Woods took on Greg Norman in singles.

          7. Sergio's hurricane efforts
          Sergio Garcia pledged $2,000 for every birdie he made during the three FedEx Cup playoff events in which he competed.

          8. Lifetime deal
          In the midst of the Presidents Cup, Phil Mickelson has come to an agreement on a "lifetime'' deal with Callaway Golf. Asked how long the deal is for, Mickelson quipped, "well, hopefully a long time.''

          "It eases my mind,'' Mickelson said. "I love the direction of the company and the people I work with. So to be able to continue my career is really a variable and uncertainly that gets eliminated and allows me to continue to play my best and strive to get my game back to where I know it can and should be.''

          9. Sense of humor
          Give it up for Wesley Bryan and his ability to poke fun at himself.