The Players is a major - the Masters isn't

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

And here I was thinking the Masters was my favorite tournament to watch. The back 9 on Sunday is always exciting. I get "that feeling" every time it starts, being the first major and all. Matter of fact, I don't think I've ever talked to anyone who didn't have the Masters rated in their top 2. Some prefer the British, some love watching the tough conditions at the US Open but everyone I've talked to has put the Masters after their Open of choice. PGA would be the one I often hear of compared to the Players. Anyways, I really don't care if it's a championship for anything, etc. I care about my entertainment and pure enjoyment of the tourmanent.

1. Masters
2. US Open
3. British Open
4. PGA
5. Players

[The Recreational Golfer]

Wow! I told my wife about what I had posted and she got worried that someone wearing a green jacket would knock on our door and shoot me when I opened it. I hope none of you guys get wind of my address.

Now I enjoy watching the Masters, and it's played on a beautiful, demanding course (but so is the AT&T;). But it's only a major because people say it is. Just like the LPGA had to have four majors because the men had four so they had to have four, too, even though they're not sure which ones they are because the lineup changes every decade or so. Kraft Nabisco=The Masters. Good grief, but the Champions Tour has five! In the early 20th century, the Western Open and the North & South were considered majors, too. The Western was run by the Western Golf Association, at the time a rival to the USGA. Its major status was based on it being the championship of something.

So I have to say again, the Masters has a small, weak field, it's a tournament run by a local club that has perfected the art of self-promotion and image-making. The operators created the value of winning. There is no intrinsic value in winning, though I'd rather win a green jacket than that thing you have put on when you win the Colonial.

So I like The Masters, love to watch it, but it's not a major. Not a major.

[dbuck]

Well, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I don't think you will generate much agreement. I doubt if you would find a single professional (with the skills to win the Masters) that would not call it a major.

The field is smaller, but I don't see how you could say it is weak if you read the criteria for an invitation. World ranking, US money list, winners of tournaments in current year, top finishers from past years majors--seems to me everybody that is anybody will make one of those lists.

They do invite top amateurs but they can also qualify for the US and British Opens. Past winners get a lifetime exemption, and many play because they can (and I can't blame them), but more of those are not competing if they don't feel they can be competitive.

So while there are a few invitees at the fringes that probably can't win, anybody who could win is probably already invited by another criteria.

[shortstop20]

I like being able to actually watch the tournament on TV, that's why I have less love for the Masters. Their limited TV time sucks.

[albatross]

Wow! I told my wife about what I had posted and she got worried that someone wearing a green jacket would knock on our door and shoot me when I opened it. I hope none of you guys get wind of my address.

I mean this in a nice way, but I think you're a CRAZY person. You can dislike the Masters and even think the field is weak (which is a pretty tough argument all on it's own), which by the way I have a question. Who should have been in the field this year at the Masters that wasn't? Give me 5 players that would have made the field deeper. If this is your argument, you should be able to back it up with some facts.

So anyway, you can argue about the strength of field and dislike of it being a private run tournament or whatever, but I think you sound crazy when you say "It's not a major. Not major." IT IS A MAJOR and it happens to be the most prestigious tournament no matter how you look at it. I again point to the survey done last year of PGA TOUR PLAYERS. The guys whose opinion should mean the most when it comes to deciding which tournaments are "major." So you are certainly entitled to this opinion but I promise I'm not the only person hear that thinks this argument is insane.

[Elsfan]

I like being able to actually watch the tournament on TV, that's why I have less love for the Masters. Their limited TV time sucks.

This. Major tournaments should have more viewing time. I can't stand biting my nails waiting for the tournament to start.

[allin]

I don't think most of us are in any position to define which tournaments are majors. I suspect that before the Players replaces the Masters as a major, an area of golf growth, asia possibly could have the clout to make a tournament a major. Tradition is such a big part of all this, plus money from TV etc. that I don't expect a change in my lifetime. Remember almost every major golf country has their own masters, pga, open tournament etc. Money and tradition make the difference.

[apex53]

I'm was thinking maybe the OP had a few pops last night and was just trying to start a fuss, but he's obviously sticking with it... OP you're certainly entitled to your opinion.

Personally I think you're nuts

[deronsizemore]

This has to be the most ludicrous thing I've ever read... I'm not sure you're a real golf fan if you think The Masters if overrated. That's one of my favorite weeks of the year! Look forward to college basketball and tons of commercials with Jim Nance saying "A tradition unlike any other."

[GaijinGolfer]

I really not much of a fan of The Masters, but its definelty not a championship of nothing.

[shortstop20]

This has to be the most ludicrous thing I've ever read... I'm not sure you're a real golf fan if you think The Masters if overrated. That's one of my favorite weeks of the year! Look forward to college basketball and tons of commercials with Jim Nance saying "A tradition unlike any other."

Why would I love a tournament more that has significantly less TV coverage than other high profile events?

Change the coverage and my opinion would change 10 fold. What I should say is that I love the event, but hate the coverage. I'd swim through a sewer to get tickets.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Double wow. I hardly know where to begin. I should say, though, that I misspoke. I said The Masters is not a major. That's not true. It is. I should have said it's not worthy of being called a major. I hope that clears things up.

Now you can call me crazy and call me nuts, but flattery will get you nowhere. And no, as someone implied, I've never been denied tickets or thrown off the course, but I probably would be if I went there because I have this Gary McCord streak in me.

Look, guys, I've seen every Masters on TV since the early 60s except for a few in the early 70s I missed when I was doing the Vietnam thing. And I have seen some pretty exciting golf. And the course is lovely. And I especially like the Masters because it means spring is here and we got through another winter.

But a major? I didn't understand it when I was 10 and I don't understand it now. It's just a tournament run by a few guys who are PR geniuses. We revere it because we're supposed to, and damn you if you don't (see Gary McCord, again).

The comment I have liked the most so far, though, is this one: "You might have a chip on your shoulder because you could never be a member of the club." As if anyone in this forum defending its honor would ever be asked! And no, I'm not really Martha Burke. Better nip that one in the bud. And yes, I thought she had her head up her, well, you know.

The most telling comment is, that this question is "Ignorant nonsense which has been rehashed dozens of times on every golf forum." That the question keeps coming up so often means that maybe, just maybe, this isn't as cut and dried an issue as some respondents would think it is.

Just sayin' . . .

[HoosierGolfer]

the players is the pga tour’s championship. It is the championship of a major golfing body, just like three of the four currently recognized majors. It also has a very strong field. Not the most compelling case, but the case for the masters to be a major is almost non-existent.

lol..................

[albatross]

OP, you still haven't defended your point or answered the big question.

You keep saying it's a weak field. How do you figure?

Answer the question of who was missing from the field that deserved to be there and would have made it a deeper, more competitive field?

[pittpanther]

But a major? I didn't understand it when I was 10 and I don't understand it now. It's just a tournament run by a few guys who are PR geniuses. We revere it because we're supposed to, and damn you if you don't

RecGolf, I see what you're getting at - the other majors are "major" because they select a champion of some golf ruling body. The champion of the USGA, or the R&A;, or the PGA of America. The Players selects the champion of the PGA Tour, whereas the Masters really is in some sense "just another tournament" in that it does not select a champion (other than the champion of the Masters itself...).

The problem I have with agreeing or not agreeing with you is that no one has provided a solid definition of a "major." And I doubt that anyone really can. Sometimes things happen just because that's the way it's always been. I think that's the case with the Masters. It's an old tournament, played on a beautiful course, and as a result has much more tradition associated with it than the Players. In other words, it's a major because everyone says it is...

[trumps4]

The Masters is my favorite major partly because it is not run by a governing body. One could argue that instead of being the R&A;, PGA, USGA, etc's championship; it is GOLF's championship. I love how the field is determined. As for the player's, call it a major if you want but that course just ain't "major caliber" IMO.

[sean_miller]

The Masters is my favorite major partly because it is not run by a governing body. One could argue that instead of being the R&A;, PGA, USGA, etc's championship; it is

Using that logic, the Notre Dame Fighting Iris are the most exciting football team.

[trumps4]

Using that logic, the Notre Dame Fighting Iris are the most exciting football team.

Not saying that the Masters is the most exciting. The point is that I don't really care what organization sponsers what major and that I kinda like that Augusta National puts on the Masters. What makes a major a major to me is the golf course. IMO, if any existing major is not a "real" major, it's the PGA.