THE PLAYERS is the Next Major

Some will have you believe that the next scheduled Major for the 2008 PGA Tour season is the U.S. Opon at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California. It’s not.

THE PLAYERS Championship is the perennial “fifth-major.” I’m using this post to make it official, as it clearly should be.

The Purse — It has the largest purse of the season at $9,000,000 with $1,700,000 going to the winner. The field is stronger than in any other tournament all year.

The Field — It has the strongest and purest field. The Masters is notorious for it’s small field. Qualifiers and unwilling travelers dilute the fields at the U.S. and British Opens. Same for the PGA Championship with PGA teaching pros taking up spots.

Fan Factor — Besides having a huge purse and top-notch field, the TPC Sawgrass is the single most exciting tournament to watch either live or on TV. The course is designed for spectators. And the par-three 17th hole with the island green followed by the 18th with water up the left is an impressive finishing stretch. There is risk-reward around every dogleg on the TPC Sawgrass.

What does this mean? Tiger Woods has another major, which puts him at 14. More importantly this adds three to Jack Nicklaus’ total of 18. He’s got 21 now. Get a move on Tiger. Numerous other golfers now have a major. Congratulations, guys!

The U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship have nothing on THE PLAYERS — except maybe that they’re official majors. I’m changing that, though. By Yugflog standards, there are five majors now.

Published by

Chris

Attorney & Amateur Golfer

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