I assume the same Doug Downer traditionalists that don’t want pros to wear joggers, hate the raucous atmosphere at the WM Phoenix Open and utterly despise Topgolf, also don’t want THE PLAYERS Championship to be a fifth major.
I disagree with them on all counts and I strongly believe THE PLAYERS is worthy of major status.
Furthermore, I really don’t want to hear from the LIV fanatics boasting they stole all the great players ala Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka.
I’m not an LIV hater, but 54-hole, no cut, shotgun start exhibitions with team names like the RangeGoats does not suggest phenomenal competitive golf to me.
THE PLAYERS absolutely does.
While the 144- players field is admittedly somewhat diluted thanks to LIV, it still has no shortage of the world’s best players, including defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Wyndham Clark and young studs like Will Zalatoris, Ludvig Aberg and Tom Kim competing on a world-class golf course. (Ranked 41st in Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Courses).
Here’s why THE PLAYERS should be the 5th Major:
1. Strongest Field in Golf
My gosh, except for the high-profile LIV defectors, you’ve got the highest concentration of the best players on the planet teeing it up at TPC Sawgrass in this 50th anniversary tournament. The PGA TOUR pours its heart, soul and Benjamins into this tournament making sure the field is as elite as possible. You can watch The Masters for the traditions, azaleas and Amen Corner; The Open Championship for its history and links golf; the U.S. Open for its everyman golfer appeal and the PGA Championship for legacy elements, but, if you want to see the most highly ranked golfers on the same course every year, THE PLAYERS always delivers. This year (2024), THE PLAYERS features 10 of the top 12 players in the Official World Golf Ranking.
2. Iconic Venue
While the tournament has only been around since 1974, much like Augusta National, knowledgeable golf viewers know many of the holes even though they’ve never stepped onto the turf at TPC Sawgrass. By staging THE PLAYERS at the same venue for 50 years, fans have a comfortable familiarity with this Pete Dye designed gem. Dye created a masterful skills test of 18 exceptional holes for the Top 50 and others. From the island green at 17 (one of the most famous holes in golf) to the lake rimming the left side of the fairway at 18, fans love to watch the greatest golfers in the world play these holes and others. Typically overlooked, but often a key hole in determining the winner is the 16th, a high-risk, high-reward 523-yard, par 5.
3. Memorable Moments
My absolute favorite moment is when Hal Sutton hit an amazingly pure, clutch six iron approach on the final hole in 2000 with his playing partner Tiger Woods standing nearby. Sutton utters the infamous “Be the right club ta-day! Yes.” as the ball is in flight, which the television microphones picked up. It was the RIGHT club.The 179-yard shot secured a one-stroke victory for Sutton and the golf world’s acknowledgement that he was one of few people to take Tiger down mano e mano. Some other great moments include Tiger’s amazing birdie putt on 17 in 2001 that prompted Gary Koch’s “Better than Most” comment and Rickie Fowler’s spectacular comeback in 2015 when he was six shots behind at the 13th and roared back to win in a playoff.
4. Massive Fan Appeal
It has become one of the hottest tickets in golf with more than 200,000 spectators jamming the fairways for the week. Golf Channel treats it like a major with its “Live from THE PLAYERS” show and its major-like coverage on Golf Today. Plus NBC has more than five hours of coverage on both Saturday and Sunday. The absence of 2022 champ Cam Smith and some of his LIV c0-horts has done little to dampen the enthusiasm level for The PLAYERS, which has record setting ticket sales this year.
5. The Participants Treat It Like a Major
“I’m excited just to — I mean, any time you’re here at THE PLAYERS, it’s a big deal,” says 2021 THE PLAYERS champion Justin Thomas. “It’s obviously a huge event. To me THE PLAYERS is the PLAYERS, it’s such a huge event everybody knows it’s a huge event, everybody knows it’s a major…”
Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth concurs: “I always look forward to THE PLAYERS Championship. We all approach it as if it’s a Major Championship. It’s our championship. It’s really cool and on such an incredible golf course, one of the best in the world, one of my favorite in the world.”
“I feel like I look at this event as basically like a major,” Rickie Fowler said at a media conference at TPC Sawgrass in 2018. “It has the major feel, obviously one of the best fields we play all year, on a tough golf course.” Fowler won THE PLAYERS in 2015.
