Phil Mickelson easily enters Hall of Fame

Phil Mickelson will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May after the four-time major tournament winner was elected with the highest voting percentage in a decade.

Mickelson, the only player elected from the U.S. PGA Tour ballot, received 72 percent of the vote, the highest share since Greg Norman was elected with 80 percent in 2001, according to the hall.

He will be inducted on May 7 in St. Augustine, Florida, three days before the start of the PGA Tour’s Players championship.

“This is a really special and cool honor,” Mickelson, 41, told reporters in Singapore, where he is playing in a European Tour event. “It’s kind of an elite club.”

The winner of 39 PGA Tour events, including the Masters Tournament in 2004, 2006 and 2010 and the PGA Championship in 2005, Mickelson became eligible for induction when he turned 40 last year.

“To be called a Hall of Fame golfer, that actually does sound like I’m a little old,” he said. “I don’t feel old. Hopefully I’ll be able to play quite a bit longer and compete.”

Others on the PGA Tour ballot who fell short of the 65 percent vote needed included Fred Couples (38 percent), Davis Love III and Mark O’Meara (both 29 percent), and Ken Venturi (27 percent).

The PGA Tour ballot voting body consists of golf journalists, historians and golf dignitaries, according to the hall’s website. Additional inductees in the international, veterans and lifetime achievement categories will be announced in the coming weeks, the hall said.