The Next Major, THE PLAYERS, Is Only Three Weeks Away

The Masters is barely finished and the players are already thinking about the next Major. Davis Love III playing in Hilton Head Island this week and a five-time winner of the Verizon Heritage noted in his Wednesday media interview: “I've got three weeks to get ready for THE PLAYERS and then get ready for the U.S. Open.”

He won at TPC Sawgrass, the home of the PGA TOUR and their flagship event THE PLAYERS Championship in 1992 and 2003.

Should THE PLAYERS be the fifth Major Championship along with the Masters, US Open, British Open and the PGA? Absolutely, positively, well maybe…

What makes a Major Championship anyways? Who says the Masters started in 1934 by Bobby Jones is a Major? Who would we look to for the validation stamp that THE PLAYERS has made the grade and is now considered a Major?

Some of the ruling bodies of golf- Augusta National, the USGA, the R&A, the PGA of America who have their own Major? Or the press? Or the players, the professional golfers themselves? Or the fans, spectators and patrons of the sport of golf?

The PGA TOUR emerged in 1968 as a breakaway organization of tournament players from the PGA of America whose majority interest is representing club professionals.

Though relatively young at 41 years of existence so too is the Masters at 75 years compared to the 255 years of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews which was founded back in the eighteenth century in 1754.

Majors have come and gone over the course of golf history.

The Western Open was once considered a Major. Today it has metamorphosed into the BMW Championship one of the PGA TOUR Playoff events for the FedEx Cup.

This Major which was first played in 1899 was just that in the early decades of the twentieth century. It is the third oldest active PGA TOUR tournament after the British Open (first played in 1860) and the US Open (first played in 1895).

Longevity has its place but does not guarantee statue as the Western Open hasn’t been considered a Major Championship since the 1920s.

Early on the tournament was dominated by professionals from Scotland and England. That was until the likes of Chicago amateur Charles (Chick) Evans beat those guys and won the Western Open in 1910 at Beverly CC In Chicago, IL.

A similar spark that ignited the passion for the game of golf in America came three years later in 1913 when amateur Francis Ouimet beat Harry Vardon and Ted Ray at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts in the US Open.

Somehow the Western Open died as a Major while the US Open flourished.

By the way who came up with the terminology of “Major” and “Grand Slam?” We know it wasn’t Denny’s with their “Grand Slam” breakfast. Maybe it was baseball as in a home run with all three bases occupied? Tennis uses the same designations too.

In golf it was certainly Bobby Jones when he won all four Major golf tournaments at the time in 1930. As he was an amateur they were defined as the US Open, US Amateur, British Open and British Amateur. In 1930 Gene Sarazen won the Western Open. Jones did not compete in that event. There were not five Majors only four at the time.

The “modern Grand Slam” became possible when Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts held that first “Masters” tournament in 1934.

Though it was possible it was not even probable through 1953 when Ben Hogan won the Masters, the US Open and the British Open. He could not compete in the PGA Championship due to the schedule and the time it took to cross the Atlantic Ocean by boat.

It wasn’t until 1960 when a conversation took place between Arnold Palmer and reporter Bob Drum of the Pittsburgh Press.

Palmer, the 1960 Masters Champion won the US Open at Cherry Hills courtesy of the same Drum’s comments that he did not have a chance to win being seven strokes behind. He then went out and drove the par-4 first green, shot 65 and did win the US Open.

Likely only because they were friends from western Pennsylvania they had a follow up conversation concluding if he went on to win the British Open and the PGA Championship it would constitute a “modern Grand Slam.”

Two conversations, two historical moments in the game of golf. Maybe this is what is meant by “the beat of a Drum?” It certainly exemplifies the role of the media in creating expectations in the world of sport.

A little bit of 1960 history has Arnold Palmer finishing second to little known Australian Kal Nagle in the British Open at St. Andrews, Scotland. Jay Hebert won the PGA Championship at Firestone CC in Akron, OH. Palmer finished T7 and never did win a PGA Championship.

To this date only Ben Hogan in 1963 has started the season winning the first three Majors with a chance for the “modern Grand Slam.”

The there is the “Tiger Slam” were he won the last three majors of 2000- the US Open at  Pebble Beach Golf Links, the British Open at St. Andrews, Scotland and the PGA Championship at Valhalla GC and the first one of 2001—the Masters at Augusta National.

Possessing all four championship trophies at one time he clearly achieved a pinnacle that no other professional golfer, save Ben Hogan in 1963 has come close to. Did he achieve the Grand Slam? Certainly not all victories in the same calendar year. We know he achieved the “Tiger Slam.”

Realistically let’s look at what defines a Major Championship. By definition the word “major” means of superior ability, of great importance and of the highest rank or standing. In sport how does one determine if a performance is great? Certainly the difficulty of who is beaten and on what playing field factors in strongly.

When it comes to the strength of field THE PLAYERS is perhaps the strongest of all Majors.

While the Masters field includes the Top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and the winners of PGA TOUR events in the last year it is diluted by inclusion of aging past Champions and amateurs who have not even made the cut in the last four years.

Not that there is anything wrong with that for their inclusion is exactly what makes the Masters the honored tradition that it is and like Jim Nantz, CBS sportscaster says “like no other.”

This year’s Masters had only 90 competitors. Based on the results one could eliminate ten golfers from serious contention making the field only 80. Compared to THE PLAYERS’ field of 144 that almost twice as many proven golfers that could have a hot week and win a Major Championship.

The obvious strength of the Masters is the gem of a golf course. With the ideal topography of rolling hills, the genesis of a plant nursery and the masterful design by Dr. Alistair Mackenzie the Augusta National grounds are a worldwide shrine to the game of golf.

With the Masters being played on the same golf course year after year and the leadership of the Masters organization it only gets better and better.  

Being played on the same challenging golf course year after year is another reason THE PLAYERS should be considered a Major. It is a modern day equivalent of the park land Augusta National in that it epitomizes a new era in golf course design introduced by Pete Dye and his wife Alice—the risk-reward scenario.

Forced engagement like the island green 17th par-three hole leads to dramatic play, competition and exciting finishes.

With the move from March to a May date all five stars are aligned for Major competition throughout the heart of the world golfing season. The five Majors are spaced out perfectly with the Masters in April, THE PLAYERS in May, the US Open in June, the British Open in July and the PGA Championship in August.

Golf is a game of the world all around the globe. The sun never sets on someone somewhere putting a tee in the ground and taking a whack at the golf ball.

The six tours of the world—the Asian Tour, the European Tour, the Japan Golf Tour, the PGA TOUR Australasia, the PGA TOUR in America and the Sunshine Tour of South Africa came together 10 years ago to produce the commercial World Golf Championships (WGCs).

Surely they can come together once again to designate THE PLAYERS as an official Major Championship.

Yes three of the four current Majors are staged within the United States. With golf being a global game one would like to see the Major competitions occur around the world. The reality behind that relevant desire is that golf is a business and it must be a successful business in order to stage worldwide Majors.

Originally the intent was to do so with the WGCs but the reality is that the best business in golf is right here in America.

Let’s add the fifth Major now and discuss locations of competition later. The fairly local Rota of the British Open being seaside links courses in Scotland and England is similar to the Masters and THE PLAYERS being anchored in one locale.

That leaves the US Open and the PGA of America to possibly reach out worldwide to stage their competitions in the years ahead. By virtue of the names of the organizations that seems like heresy but who knows if and how the world of golf will come together in the decades ahead?

The bottom line is that based on the strength of the field, the golf course and the historical competition demonstrated in its first 36 years THE PLAYERS championship has earned the designation of a Major.

By the way Tiger Woods won the 2001 PLAYERS making the Tiger Slam a slam of five tournaments which is exponentially more difficult to duplicate than four.

There is a tradeoff for Tiger since Jack Nicklaus has three PLAYERS championships to his one. That would mean if THE PLAYERS were to be recognized as the fifth major Jack’s mark would be 21. Tiger would be further behind in his quest to be the greatest golfer of all time with only 15 (including the 2001 PLAYERS). The gap would increase from four to six.

When is the best time to rewrite history? As it is being made by those who make it or later on by others with hindsight and presumably more wisdom?

Ultimately in the modern world the playing of sport is for the spectator. Without the spectators there would be no interest, there would be no business, and there would be no tournaments. Hence longer term there would be no sport of golf.

Consequentially whether or not THE PLAYERS is or becomes the fifth Major Championship is up to you the spectator and informed golfer. What is your vote? Please express it as the ruling bodies of golf need to know. Vote now!

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, FL near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.

He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]