PGA: Lee Westwood Suggests There Should Be a Fifth Major

Lee Westwood, the World’s No. 2 golfer, thinks that a new major should be created for the Asia-Pacific region.

His comments were made after the LPGA reported to have considered Asia as the possible destination of the fifth major they were creating, which eventually was announced to be the Evian Masters in France.

Westwood also said in the statement that he “likes the tradition of the majors. I think the men's game has got it pretty much right, although I'd like to see another major somewhere else in the world. Somewhere like Asia or Australia."

The question here would be if the PGA should follow suit, tinker with tradition and really consider a fifth major. At least there would be no more Grand Slams; it would defeat the meaning of it.

Truth be told, the internationalization of the sport is currently at historic levels. It’s not only because of the media coverage, with the reach of the Internet we get to know exactly what happens in tournaments worldwide in real-time.

I see it as a good idea, and one that should be explored. There are always the logistics, marketing and scheduling issues, but, once again, the only issue I see here is the traditionalists, which could see it as forbidden to add a fifth major to the season.

We have seen our share of good Asian players in both men and women tours. The men, currently led by the most notables in K.J. Choi, Y.E. Yang and Ryo Ishikawa, are becoming regulars on tour each year.

The other place Westwood mentions is Australia. I don’t have enough space here to start mentioning all Australian golfers and the impact they have in the PGA—past or present. And let’s not forget The Big Fijian, who is from the nearby islands.

It would definitely go long ways towards the fully internationalization of the sport, giving an added incentive to the players in the nearby countries to continue their development. This added to the fact that it would give the majors a truly worldwide flavor.

If the tradition to keep only four is still an issue, I would vote for giving the PGA Championship to the Asia-Pacific region. Play the first two in the US, then go to Europe for the third (The Open) and play the PGA Championship in that AP region.

This issue would for sure stir up some debate if some other top players would keep bringing it up. Even now it's starting to make some headlines, and for sure is a good subject for debating. 

- Carlos Torres