Should the Players Championship become golf\u2019s fifth major?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the question the PGA Tour not-so-subtly wants you asking.<\/p>\n
The Tour released a provocative new Players promo video on Thursday afternoon during late-window coverage of the WM Phoenix Open<\/a> that felt like an exercise in subliminal messaging.<\/p>\n Seems like the PGA Tour wants the \u201c5th major\u201d debate back on.<\/p>\n The Players Championship just dropped this new ad. Should get you fired up for TPC Sawgrass \u2014 but it\u2019s the half-second at the end that\u2019s going to raise eyebrows:<\/p>\n \u201cMarch is going to be major.\u201dpic.twitter.com\/qIIX2jpvUq<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) February 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The opening shot \u2014 an upside-down reflection of J.J. Spaun \u2014 serves as a callback to last year\u2019s dramatic, splashy Players finish, where Spaun made an inspired charge before his hopes ended in arguably golf\u2019s most famous lake.<\/p>\n Next there\u2019s Sepp Straka gazing at TPC Sawgrass\u2019 iconic island-green 17th. (Why Straka? I\u2019m not exactly sure, but my best guess is his was the steeliest stare the Tour had on file.)<\/p>\n Then recent big-name Players champs tick past, Scottie Scheffler (who won in 2023 and 2024) and then Rory McIlroy (2019 and 2025) and then Justin Thomas (2021), the three most recent in-good-standing tournament winners who are also three of golf\u2019s most popular stars (you won\u2019t be shocked to hear that 2022 champ<\/a> Cameron Smith, now of LIV Golf, does not make an appearance).<\/p>\n The shots are desaturated, overcast, moody, dramatic. A voice drifts over the scenes.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t get you out of my head<\/p>\n Suddenly you\u2019re underwater, then halfway out, then rising into the sky. The island green appears before you, and the stadium around it. There are a lot of people there.<\/p>\n There\u2019s Corey Conners. There\u2019s a ball in the water. There\u2019s Tony Finau. Another splash. There\u2019s a player in anguish, and then another. There\u2019s Collin Morikawa, so agonized he\u2019s taken off his hat. Another splash. A hole-in-one from Shane Lowry. (Remember that?) A grin from Brooks Koepka. (Remember him?) A leap from Ryan Moore. (His days as one of the faces of the Tour may be numbered.<\/a>) Then, boom. Uppercut fist-pump from Tiger Woods, punctuating the iconic \u201cBetter-than-most\u201d moment.<\/p>\n And then comes the tagline.<\/p>\n MARCH IS GOING TO BE MAJOR<\/p>\n It\u2019s barely on screen; blink and you could just about miss it. But the message seems pretty clear.<\/p>\n The Players being described as \u201cmajor\u201d is, at the very least, a strong suggestion. Greenlighting this particular tagline does not happen by accident \u2014 especially not for a PGA Tour under new CEO Brian Rolapp, who has started his first full season on offense. In recent weeks, the Tour has recruited multiple players back from LIV and pushed forward plans to reimagine the schedule under the guidance of visionaries like Tiger Woods and Theo Epstein. The latest development is only a piece of marketing material, but it suggests something bigger: Rolapp is ratcheting up the size of the Tour\u2019s visionboard, and in the process, testing the limits of his newfound momentum.<\/p>\n The Players-as-fifth-major discussion is not new. It certainly predates my arrival in the world of golf media. Based on conversations with smart people, the Tour has vacillated on the seriousness of the \u201cmajor\u201d moniker many times over the years. <\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s easy to see why the Tour would want the Players to become a major. By most objective measures, the PGA Tour is the strongest and wealthiest Tour in the world \u2014 but if we\u2019re judging by ownership of golf\u2019s most important events (the majors), it comes up empty. The PGA Tour does not own the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, the Open Championship or even the Ryder Cup. I doubt Rolapp is particularly pleased about that structure. I doubt the Tour\u2019s private-equity partners are, either. They would like to own all four majors. At the very least, they\u2019d like to own one.<\/p>\n And so here we are, with the Tour using its marketing material to test the waters of the major championship discussion again. Is this a trial balloon \u2014 or the beginning of an organized campaign? It appears we\u2019re about to find out.<\/p>\n Update: I emailed the Tour asking for comment on the new ad. Just as we were publishing this story, they sent over the following statement. The second sentence seems\u2026suggestive:<\/p>\n \u201cFans and players have long discussed THE PLAYERS Championship\u2019s status as a major. We understand that is not for us to decide. Ultimately it is up to our sport and its fans to recognize what the professionals who play the game already know.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime, it\u2019s worth running through five questions on what a theoretical Players-as-fifth-major would mean.<\/p>\n 1. Who decides the majors, anyway?<\/p>\n Oh boy, good question. The short version: Some golfers and some writers. It was murky for a while, but it\u2019s been a mostly settled discussion for decades.<\/p>\n There was a time, pre-Masters, in which the U.S. and British Amateurs were considered majors. In 1930, just four years before Augusta National\u2019s first invitational tournament, Bobby Jones won those two plus the U.S. Open and Open Championship and was considered a grand-slam winner.<\/p>\n The modern Grand Slam, per our in-house expert Michael Bamberger<\/a>, had its roots in the 1930s but didn\u2019t become a \u201cthing\u201d until 1960, when Arnold Palmer and his preferred sportswriter, Bob Drum, decided on the four events during a flight to St. Andrews \u2026 or so the story goes. There were other top players involved in choosing the majors, and other top sportswriters, too (I type, wistfully, imagining this power), but the power to make such pronouncements was derived primarily from the rise of golf on TV, which elevated stars like Palmer and Jack Nicklaus into authority figures. Of course, that leaves a deep irony in the formation of the modern slam: The majors are each 90-plus years old, but the Grand Slam may not yet be 70.<\/p>\n There was still some murkiness around the Grand Slam the \u201960s and \u201970s, when it was unclear whether Nicklaus should count his 1959 and 1961 U.S. Amateur titles as majors. But eventually a common vernacular emerged around the four big events: the Masters, the PGA, the U.S. Open, and the Open Championship. Horse racing has its Triple Crown, and golf has its Grand Slam, an epic foursome of tournaments stretching from the beginning of spring through the end of summer.<\/p>\n The majors are \u201cofficial\u201d in certain ways; they\u2019re referenced in handbooks, Hall-of-Fame criteria, media guides, Wikipedia pages and the like. But there\u2019s also no organization or individual in charge of amending their definition. It\u2019s a funny thing to think about. They\u2019re the majors because we all agree that they are.<\/p>\n If the Players isn\u2019t a major, what is it?<\/p>\n The Players isn\u2019t a major and hasn\u2019t been a major \u2014 but it is the next best thing: the second line in the counting stats of PGA Tour players. Justin Thomas has two majors plus a Players. Rory McIlroy has five majors plus two Players. Yes, this is a bit bulky. Rolapp\u2019s quest is for \u201csimplicity,\u201d and this could be simplified. But it\u2019s also the way things are; the Players is the PGA Tour\u2019s biggest event \u2026 but it\u2019s not a major. <\/p>\n It is worth emphasizing just how good the Players has become. It\u2019s not just No. 17; TPC Sawgrass is a terrific tournament venue. I\u2019ve written that it\u2019s the Florida Masters<\/a>; we return every year to a familiar, iconic venue with famous hazards, big-time champions, and highlight-reel moments. Sub out Rae\u2019s Creek for the island green, and sub out Augusta\u2019s historic manor clubhouse for the towering Ponte Vedra palace, you get the idea. The crowds are terrific, it\u2019s the event in town, the broadcast feels big and it seems to get bigger every year.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the case for the Players as a major?<\/p>\n I guess I sort of just made that case. Iconic venue, memorable moments, 50-plus years of history, big-time winners, a massive purse, elevated TV coverage, enormous crowds. It\u2019s objectively one of the best tournaments on the golf calendar. <\/p>\n About the biggest thing working against the Players as a major is its field. The majors have gained strength in the 2020s because they\u2019ve served as the only mutual meeting ground for stars from the PGA Tour and LIV. In some ways, it could be argued that what makes a major in 2026 is that all the best players are in attendance. Currently, the Tour only welcomes Tour players to compete in the Players.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s an intriguing potential subplot here. This is pure speculation, but if the Players wanted to achieve major status, could it create an eligibility category for top LIV players and serve as a crossover event transcending tour rivalry? I dunno. But it does seem like you\u2019d need to open up the field in some way to seriously enter the conversation.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the case against the Players as a major?<\/p>\n