Interesting Issues Raised by Possibility of Players Championship Becoming Major
March 2006 - Will - and should - The Players Championship ever achieve full status as a major, rather than just being considered the most important tournament outside of the four majors?
That's an issue we discuss here, presenting the pro and con arguments.
If The Players does achieve major status, it will present some interesting dilemmas for golf historians. For example, is Davis Love III just a 1-time major winner ...
or does he suddenly, overnight, due to a change in one tournament's status, become a 3-time major champion?
The issue there is whether, if the The Players Championship becomes a major, the winners of the event prior to its ascendancy to major status will themselves be considered to have won a major.
There is precedent for such a situation. The LPGA majors have changed frequently over time. One of them, the Women's British Open, was considered an LPGA event going back to 1979. But it wasn't elevated to major championship status until 2001, when it took the place of the du Maurier Classic in the pantheon of LPGA majors.
Winners of the Women's British Open from 2001 forward are considered major championship winners; winners of the event prior to 2001 are not, and are not credited with a major on their resume'.
What would the PGA Tour do in the case of The Players Championship? For example: Jerry Pate, Tom Kite and John Mahaffey, among others, would become 2-time major champions if their wins at The Players were considered majors.
Like Davis Love III, Fred Couples, Steve Elkington and Hal Sutton would all go from 1-time major winners to 3-time major champions.
And guys like Mark Hayes, Craig Perks, Jodie Mudd and Fred Funk could call themselves major champions.
The Players Championship is run by the PGA Tour, and PGA Tour players have great respect for tradition. But they also have great respect for rules and regulations that help fill their pocketbooks. And when you get down to it, that's why The Players might become a full-fledged major. The PGA Tour could simply make it happen, and the networks and newspapers and websites would fall in line because a major means bigger ratings and more money for everyone.
The PGA Tour could simply start counting past Players winners as major winners. One thing that makes that easier to do is the fact that Jack Nicklaus won The Players three times back when it was called the Tournament Players Championship. So Jack's record 18 major championships would become 21, and nobody (meaning Tiger Woods, who at the time of this writing has one Players victory) would be any closer to catching him.
But don't discount the possibility that even if The Players becomes a full major that there would then be five majors instead of the traditional four. If I was the PGA of America, I'd be a little concerned than an elevation of The Players Championship would result in a devaluing of the PGA Championship.
The PGA has long been considered the weakest of the majors, primarily because its field has always included club professionals from around America, club and teaching pros who play their way in through the PGA's Club Professionals Championship. But also because it's in the fall, when the season is winding down and when the best of the best have already begun playing fewer events.
The inclusion of club pros has always been a point of contention between the PGA and the PGA Tour. PGA Tour players say no major should include so many guys who probably aren't good enough to play the Nationwide Tour, much less the PGA Tour; more to the point, PGA Tour guys want those spots in the field for themselves. But the PGA of America is an organization of club and teaching professionals, and wants its members to have a shot at making the field.
If the PGA Tour found itself in a position where it had done everything it could to make The Players a true major - even gone so far to finally, "officially" declare it one - yet fans and media were having a hard time making the leap from four majors to five, don't discount the possibily the Tour might try to take the PGA Championship down a notch or two.
The two organizations have clashed before over the PGA Championship and its inclusion of those club pros. And in fact, PGA Tour players have threatened to boycott the PGA Championship in the past in order to drive down the number of club pros in the field (which they successfully did).
So while The Players Championship might someday be considered a major, there are plenty of interesting questions to consider about the impact.
That's an issue we discuss here, presenting the pro and con arguments.
If The Players does achieve major status, it will present some interesting dilemmas for golf historians. For example, is Davis Love III just a 1-time major winner ...
or does he suddenly, overnight, due to a change in one tournament's status, become a 3-time major champion?
The issue there is whether, if the The Players Championship becomes a major, the winners of the event prior to its ascendancy to major status will themselves be considered to have won a major.
There is precedent for such a situation. The LPGA majors have changed frequently over time. One of them, the Women's British Open, was considered an LPGA event going back to 1979. But it wasn't elevated to major championship status until 2001, when it took the place of the du Maurier Classic in the pantheon of LPGA majors.
Winners of the Women's British Open from 2001 forward are considered major championship winners; winners of the event prior to 2001 are not, and are not credited with a major on their resume'.
What would the PGA Tour do in the case of The Players Championship? For example: Jerry Pate, Tom Kite and John Mahaffey, among others, would become 2-time major champions if their wins at The Players were considered majors.
Like Davis Love III, Fred Couples, Steve Elkington and Hal Sutton would all go from 1-time major winners to 3-time major champions.
And guys like Mark Hayes, Craig Perks, Jodie Mudd and Fred Funk could call themselves major champions.
The Players Championship is run by the PGA Tour, and PGA Tour players have great respect for tradition. But they also have great respect for rules and regulations that help fill their pocketbooks. And when you get down to it, that's why The Players might become a full-fledged major. The PGA Tour could simply make it happen, and the networks and newspapers and websites would fall in line because a major means bigger ratings and more money for everyone.
The PGA Tour could simply start counting past Players winners as major winners. One thing that makes that easier to do is the fact that Jack Nicklaus won The Players three times back when it was called the Tournament Players Championship. So Jack's record 18 major championships would become 21, and nobody (meaning Tiger Woods, who at the time of this writing has one Players victory) would be any closer to catching him.
But don't discount the possibility that even if The Players becomes a full major that there would then be five majors instead of the traditional four. If I was the PGA of America, I'd be a little concerned than an elevation of The Players Championship would result in a devaluing of the PGA Championship.
The PGA has long been considered the weakest of the majors, primarily because its field has always included club professionals from around America, club and teaching pros who play their way in through the PGA's Club Professionals Championship. But also because it's in the fall, when the season is winding down and when the best of the best have already begun playing fewer events.
The inclusion of club pros has always been a point of contention between the PGA and the PGA Tour. PGA Tour players say no major should include so many guys who probably aren't good enough to play the Nationwide Tour, much less the PGA Tour; more to the point, PGA Tour guys want those spots in the field for themselves. But the PGA of America is an organization of club and teaching professionals, and wants its members to have a shot at making the field.
If the PGA Tour found itself in a position where it had done everything it could to make The Players a true major - even gone so far to finally, "officially" declare it one - yet fans and media were having a hard time making the leap from four majors to five, don't discount the possibily the Tour might try to take the PGA Championship down a notch or two.
The two organizations have clashed before over the PGA Championship and its inclusion of those club pros. And in fact, PGA Tour players have threatened to boycott the PGA Championship in the past in order to drive down the number of club pros in the field (which they successfully did).
So while The Players Championship might someday be considered a major, there are plenty of interesting questions to consider about the impact.
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