Four Is Enough

The Players: special but not a major

There has been much chatter about The Players Championship recently following a tagline in a PGA Tour commercial (“March is going to be major”) and Brandel Chamblee’s enthusiastic endorsement of the event on Golf Channel.

“In every single way that a metric could be used to measure whether something is a major, The Players, to me, stands alone and above the other four major championships as not just a major,” Chamblee said. “It is, in my estimation, the best major.”

Even coming from a commentator who thrives on data but sometimes enjoys stirring the pot with the biggest spoon in the kitchen, that level of full-throated advocacy is hard to fathom.

I disagree with Chamblee. I agree with the sentiment of Rory McIlory, who talked about the issue yesterday when he met with the media at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

“I think The Players is one of the best golf tournaments in the world,” McIlroy said. “I don’t think anyone disputes that or argues that. I think from a player perspective it’s amazing. I think from an on-site fan experience it’s amazing. It’s an amazing golf course, location, venue. But … I’m a traditionalist, I’m a historian of the game. We have four major championships. You know, if you want to see what five major championships looks like, look at the women’s game. I don’t know how well that’s went for them. It’s The Players. It doesn’t need to be anything else.”

McIlroy continued: “I would say it’s got more of an identity than the PGA Championship does at the minute. So, from an identity standpoint, I think The Players has got it nailed. It is an amazing tournament in its own right, and I don’t think it being classified a major or not a major makes it any more or any less. I’m very proud to have won that tournament twice as I’m sure all the other champions are. It stands on its own without the label.”

One of McIlroy’s victories on The Stadium course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., came just last year, not long before he won his first Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. McIlroy’s Players’ win, in a playoff over J.J. Spaun, who soon was to prove his mettle by winning the U.S. Open, was a fine achievement. But McIlroy’s Masters victory was on an entirely different level, an accomplishment that lifted him into the sport’s stratosphere. Its meaning was measured not by the strength of the field McIlroy beat at Augusta National but by the victor dropping to his knees, overcome by emotion, when it was over.

Chamblee has pointed out, correctly, in social media posts since his initial comments on The Players’ status, that golf’s majors have evolved over time. Much of the evolution related to elite golf’s transition from being largely about amateurs to being focused on professionals. The Masters emerged as the fourth leg of the professional major matrix—instead of, say, the Western Open or the North and South Open—thanks in large measure to Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer and sportswriters who embraced the spring invitational from the bottom of their hearts and the home keys of their Royals.

Jones’ involvement with Augusta National might have been too much to overcome. Had the Tufts family which ran Pinehurst been more enamored with the growing pro circuit, supported the pros more vigorously, and courted the press as Augusta National did, it’s possible the North and South Open could have given the Masters a run for mid-20^th century prestige. We’ll never know. The North and South Open was played for the last time in 1951, nearly a decade before Palmer won the Masters and U.S. Open and traveled to the 1960 Open at St. Andrews with a “modern Grand Slam” in mind. Palmer (and his writer pal Bob Drum) formalized an idea that had been loosely thrown around earlier, going back to Craig Wood in 1941 (who won the Masters and U.S. Open) and Sam Snead in 1949 (who won the Masters and PGA, played that year in May).

The current roster of majors that has underpinned the game for many decades would be best served by the PGA Championship being played outside of the United States every couple of years, a move that would enhance its status while acknowledging the truly global nature of golf. Four would remain four. Men’s professional golf doesn’t need five majors. Tradition, in this situation, is a strength.

The Players is a wonderful event, although it’s shame that TPC Sawgrass doesn’t more closely resemble what Pete and Alice Dye originally created, a course that was rougher around the edges. The tournament is the flagship event for the PGA Tour, and, as with the Masters, the built-up familiarity for the venue after many years is a true attribute.

It’s fair, though, to wonder whether the tour hasn’t hurt its own cause when it comes to how The Players is regarded. Before the advent of the PGA Tour Playoffs two decades ago and the more recent elevation of select events to “signature” status, The Players had more of a chance to stand out. Now, it is a big deal among other big deals touted by the tour. The Players remains the real deal, but it’s not a major.