In a semicircle surrounding the entrance to the World Golf Hall of Fame there were flags from 12 different countries.

Today, Vijay Singh made it a baker’s dozen, adding the predominately light blue Fijian flag to the others standing tall against a matching pale blue sky.

Actually, the notoriously hard-working Singh surprisingly didn’t raise the flag himself, but had his 16-year-old son Qass turn the lever.

“Faster, faster,” said Singh, laughing as he motioned his son to wheel the flag more quickly. Within a minute or so, the flag was whipping in the wind next to the others.

As Singh’s induction adds a little bit more “world” to the World Golf Hall of Fame, it’s fascinating to see how so many different people from so many different places are brought together by one simple thing: golf. The differences are striking in the 2006 class of inductees, as the three living inductees demonstrated when they met with members of the media just hours before the induction ceremony.

Marilynn Smith was inducted in the Lifetime Achievement category, appropriate since the 77-year-old has accomplished so much during her life. One of the 13 original founders of the LPGA and LPGA President from 1958-1960, she saw the women’s tour get its start in many small American towns.

“This is very meaningful. I feel like this event is not only for me but for the LPGA because I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Ladies' PGA and the ladies that came after us and all the people that helped us along the way, including the media and these smaller towns that took a chance with us,” said Smith of her induction.

The enormity of the situation isn’t lost on her, as Smith said she has been nervous about her ceremony speech for three months, worried that she would have a “senior moment” and forget to tell a story she had planned. A few minutes with Smith, though, are all it takes to see that she can easily win over a crowd. When asked questions by media, she genuinely wanted to know what others thought about the topic. She proclaimed, after getting a view of the crowd from the stage, how nice looking everyone was. And, if her American flag socks aren’t enough of an indicator of her sweet and down-to-earth nature, note one of the reasons why she is glad to be in St. Augustine, Fla. for the ceremony.

“I don't have a computer so I do a lot of handwriting. My mother always said write a thank you letter, so when I got some congratulatory notes from people, I've been writing by hand. It's kind of good to get here to get away from doing that,” said the winner of 21 titles.

All three of the inductees decided upon their career choice rather late and had to deal with some tough times while first finding their way onto the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour.

Larry Nelson's came in Vietnam, as he picked up the game after returning from duty during the war. After his return, he worked seven days a week for 10 hours a day, plus attended school three nights a week for three hours a night. His wife’s parents didn’t want him to get burnt out, so they gave him money to concentrate on finishing up one last class. With all of his newfound downtime, he began to visit a local country club and pick up the game of golf.

And pick it up he did, as he quickly learned the sport and qualified for the TOUR through Qualifying school after playing in just one 72-hole event. In fact, he and his family knew so little about the sport that, when his parents-in-law and parents came to watch their first TOUR event, they took his wife’s advice to not stand in his line of sight literally.

“I was getting ready to putt and I was bending over looking at the hole and I looked up at this trash can right behind the hole and my two parents and my wife's parents, their heads are sticking out from behind this trash can at different levels,” shared Nelson.

Singh, like Nelson, was a late-bloomer, not winning his first TOUR tournament until his 30s. He has won 29 since and thinks that he still has several more left in him.

“People think that once you get in the Hall of Fame you're over the hill. But it's very odd that it first got mentioned that I was in the Hall of Fame two years ago and that was my first time that I've ever heard it,” said Singh. “I still feel that I'm very competitive and I'm probably going to have one of my best years to come.

“I'm definitely not over the hill and am just getting ready for a great few years to come and hopefully I can add a lot more to my memorabilia over here.”

For Smith, she actually wanted to be a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals as opposed to a professional golfer. When she took to the game, though, she and her fellow female competitors traveled around the country, making little prize money and fighting to make the LPGA a well-known organization.

As different as the three may be, though, all are equally worthy of their entrance into the Hall of Fame. Along with the late Mark McCormack and Henry Picard, the trio will be inducted in a ceremony Monday evening. And despite their differences, they are all bound by the game of golf.

Perhaps it was Nelson who best described the way this life-changing sport affects people.

“I'll tell you what, every morning or every day when I go out on the first tee until I finish the 18th hole, it's a life. It is a total life between those from the first hole to the 18th hole -- because you're going to have good shots, you're going to have bad shots, you're going to be happy, you're going to be sad, you're going to want to just play forever and you want to quit on the next hole.

“I mean, it's just a little mini life every round of golf you play.”

And, for the three who have made a life out of the sport, tonight they are going to be recognized for their persistence and the fact that, despite hardships and downtimes, they never gave up and rose to the top.