PLAYERS Not a Major

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

I think using the renovations to give it major credibility is a bit premature. We haven't even witnessed a single round played on it yet.

I'll add another one to my list... how about the Tour Championship? Bottom line is if you really want to make a case to give a tourament major status you can probably look at a dozen events.

If you make the Players a major does Greg Norman, Davis Love, Fred Couples get another major under their belt? Does Adam Scott get his first? Well, no...

[Guest]

It's just not the renovation. The history and course has always been one of the best in the world. The renovation on the course only changed slightly. I do agree that there may be a dozen or so other events that rate to some of us as a "major". Compare those to TPC and see what feed back we get.

The other majors started at some point in time. Granted the majors have a great history throughout time but they as well started at one time or another.

[LarryK]

How is the Players not a true championship? It has THE BEST field in all of the tournaments played. Isn't that what you want? The best competing against the best?

The Players is not a "true" championship for the same reason that the two best NBA teams playing each other during the regular season is not the NBA Championship. Same for the two best teams in the NFL that might coincidentally butt heads in inter-conference play. The winners of either of those games are not the champions of their respective leagues. That game comes later.

No one is saying the Players is not a great tournament. We're only saying that it takes more than a great field on a great course to justify the designation of a "major". "Best field in all of the tournaments played?" Did you mean to imply that the Players' field is better than the Masters, Open, British, and/or PGA fields? Surely not.

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

"Best field in

Well... it probably

is the best field of all tournaments. If not, certainly on par with the other majors. Regardless, that doesn't make it a major IMO.

[Ogg]

The Players is not a "true" championship for the same reason that the two best NBA teams playing each other during the regular season is not the NBA Championship. Same for the two best teams in the NFL that might coincidentally butt heads in inter-conference play. The winners of either of those games are not the champions of their respective leagues. That game comes later.

Ummm....... yes, it has a better field than any and all of the other Majors. I think one year, the PGA had a better field than the Players for some unknown reason. Masters has a smaller field and amatuers and past champions, the US Open and PGA have qualifiers and I believe the Open Championship does as well. The Players has the TOP 145 players in it, the deepest field of the year.

So I take it that the US Open isn't a true championship since it is played in June then and the true champion will come out of the Fed Ex cup in your opinion? So what exactly constitutes a "major" then if it is not a great field and great course? Is it the truest test of golf? If that is the case, then the US Open shouldn't be a major since the USGA makes course almost unplayable at times. Is it history? What does that have to do with winning a golf tournament anyway? Did someone just wait until the Masters was 50 years old and then start calling it a major since it had history? No. Right now, the only thing defining majors are great golf courses and history. And the Tournament Championship is a limited field event.

[iacas]

Ummm....... yes, it has a better field than any and all of the other Majors.

Drop it. That's not the point of this thread. This isn't a discussion thread, it's a thread to list reasons for an upcoming article.

Anyone else have any other reasons?