Should The Players Championship be a fifth major? Absolutely not!

A fantastic tournament, but not a major

The Players Championship is often referred to as golf’s “fifth major”. It is hugely popular with fans and players, always boasts one of the strong fields in golf, offers more prize money than any other PGA Tour event, and attracts television audiences that more than rival the majors. 

So, if The Players Championship has everything it needs to be classed as a major, should the powers that be take the obvious step and give it official major status?

Absolutely not.  

As much as we love The Players Championship, making it a fifth major would be a big mistake.

Golf is an increasingly global game. There are an estimated 60,000,000 golfers around the world. Less than half of these are in America. And yet America already has three-quarters of golf’s majors. To add another American major would skew the balance even further. 

If there is to be a fifth major, America is the last place it should be. Add a major in Asia to capitalise on the golfing boom there. Put it on rotation across Europe to give millions more golf fans access to live major action. Whatever you do, don’t put it in America. 

We asked TG fans on Facebook for their views…