The SOCIETY #114

The Players Championship: Golf’s Greatest Tournament That Isn’t a Major

Each March, the golf world gathers in northeast Florida for The Players Championship, played at TPC Sawgrass. It is commonly called “the fifth major,” but that phrase however flattering, may actually miss the point.

The Players does not need to be considered a major to deserve admiration. Its importance comes not from tradition alone, but from the way it has repeatedly produced moments that define professional golf. Over the past half century, the tournament has created a library of drama that rivals any championship in the game.

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The Tournament Jack Built

The early history of The Players is inseparable from Jack Nicklaus.

Nicklaus won the championship three times 1974, 1976, and 1978 during the event’s formative years when the tournament was still finding its identity. In many ways, his victories helped legitimize the event in the eyes of players and fans alike. When the greatest player of the era repeatedly places his name on the trophy, people begin to pay attention.

Nicklaus himself was famously skeptical of the Stadium Course at first. Like many players, he initially viewed Pete Dye’s design with suspicion. But over time he came to admire its strategic brilliance. The course did something unusual: it forced the best players in the world to think their way around it.

That concept: strategy over brute power became central to the championship’s identity.

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The Island Green and Golf’s Theater

The 17th hole at Sawgrass has become one of the most famous holes in the sport. What began as a creative solution to fill excess land during construction evolved into a global symbol of golf drama.

Few moments capture this better than the events of the 2001 Players Championship.

In the third round, Tiger Woods faced a curling birdie putt across the 17th green. Television announcer Gary Koch famously exclaimed, “Better than most!” as the ball broke across the slope and fell into the cup. The moment instantly became one of golf’s most replayed highlights.

But the island green has produced heartbreak as often as brilliance. Over the years, contenders have seen their hopes vanish into the surrounding water in the span of a single swing. The hole compresses an entire championship into one shot.

Few holes in golf—major venues included—carry that kind of narrative weight.

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The Shot That Defined a Career

In 1982, Jerry Pate produced one of the tournament’s most memorable victories.

Facing a difficult approach on the 18th hole, Pate struck a soaring 5 iron that landed softly two feet from the flag, effectively securing the championship. Moments later, in a burst of celebration that has become part of Players folklore, he pushed Pete Dye and Commissioner Deane Beman into the water beside the 18th green before jumping in himself.

It was equal parts triumph and theater, a fitting reflection of the tournament itself.

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A Duel in the Wind

The 2000 championship produced another unforgettable moment. Hal Sutton battling Tiger Woods down the stretch, faced a demanding tee shot on the 18th hole with the tournament on the line.

After striking the ball, Sutton famously remarked:

“Be the right club today.”

The shot soared perfectly toward the green, leading to victory and one of the most iconic quotes in modern golf. It captured the tension of the moment and the courage required to close out a championship against the best player in the world.

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A Champion’s Redemption

Perhaps no Players victory was more emotional than the triumph of Craig Perks in 2002.

Perks, a relatively unknown player, produced one of the most astonishing finishing stretches in tournament history. On the final three holes he chipped in for eagle at 16, made par on the island-green 17th, and holed another chip for birdie at 18.

In the span of thirty minutes, an unheralded journeyman transformed into a champion.

Moments like that remind us why golf captivates audiences: the improbable is always possible.

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The Modern Era

In recent years, The Players has continued to produce defining moments. When Rory McIlroy won in 2019, it completed a career milestone and reaffirmed his place among the game’s elite.

More recently, Scottie Scheffler achieved something unprecedented by winning the championship in consecutive years, demonstrating the level of sustained excellence required to conquer the Stadium Course. Rory had the chance this year to match that feat.

Each generation adds its own chapter to the tournament’s evolving history.

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A Championship That Stands Alone

The four majors remain golf’s ultimate tests of tradition and history:

 • THE MASTERS

 • THE US OPEN

 • THE OPEN

 • THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

But The Players fills a different role.

It is the championship of the PGA TOUR, the one week each year when the players on the strongest tour gather to determine who can navigate it’s most complete test.

Its prestige comes from competition, its drama from architecture, and its legacy from the players who have risen to the moment.

And perhaps that is why The Players does not need the label of a major.

In 1974, before the playing of what would become the inaugural Players Championship, a reporter asked Jack Nicklaus if the tournament was a major. He responded:

“No, but I think I will win it anyway, just in case.”

Nicklaus, like Walter Hagen in the PGA Championship decades before, called his shot and won the inaugural Players in 1974!

HOW THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP COULD BECOME A MAJOR

For decades the the Players Championship has been called “the fifth major.” The phrase is flattering, but technically incorrect. Golf has always recognized four majors, and that number is unlikely to change.

If The Players were ever to become a true major championship, it would not be by creating a fifth. Instead, it would have to replace one of the existing four. In practical terms, that means supplanting the PGA Championship, the major currently administered by the PGA of America.

Such a shift may sound radical, but the history of golf shows that the structure of championships has changed before. And if the PGA Tour ever decided to elevate The Players into the major rotation, there are two plausible paths.

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Path One: Acquisition

The most straightforward path would be institutional.

The PGA Tour could theoretically acquire the PGA Championship from the PGA of America, thereby inheriting not only the tournament but also the administration of the Ryder Cup; the most valuable asset under the PGA of America’s control.

In this scenario:

 • The Players Championship could replace the PGA Championship and effectively becomes a Major, or better yet the PGA Championship remains a Major and the Players continues on as the PGA Tour’s Championship.

 • The PGA Championship brand, structure, or scheduling could be absorbed or restructured.

 • The PGA Tour would assume stewardship of both the Ryder Cup and a major championship.

This approach would require enormous financial and political capital, which is now possible with the PGA Tour’s new capital partners, but it also represents the cleanest institutional transition. Golf’s governing bodies have historically been pragmatic when financial and global interests align.

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Path Two: The Musselburgh Playbook

Golf history offers a more dramatic precedent.

In the late nineteenth century, the The Open rotated among several Scottish links, including Prestwick, the Old Course at St Andrews and Ancient Links of Musselburgh.

In 1892, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, who had previously been one of three clubs to fund the Claret Jug, decided that they had had enough of Musselburgh’s overcrowded links and built their own course. As part of that move - with very little notice - they decided the Open would follow them to their new home at Muirfield.

The golfers at Musselburgh, spearheaded by two-time Open winner Willie Park Junior, decided that they would stage their own Open Championship of sorts and host it on the same dates as the official championship while also doubling the prize money in an attempt to assert control over the event. While the effort ultimately failed, it demonstrated something important: control over championships is often determined by who commands the best players and the greatest prestige.

A modern version of this strategy would involve the PGA Tour scheduling The Players Championship on the same weekend as the PGA Championship, effectively forcing players to choose.

If the strongest field and the attention of the golfing world gravitated toward Sawgrass, the balance of prestige could shift dramatically.

In golf, as in all sports, status ultimately follows the players.

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The Necessary Concession: An International Major

“If” The Players were to replace the PGA Championship as a major, it could not simply remain what it is today: a domestic Tour event played at the same venue every year.

The other majors possess distinct identities:

• The Open represents golf’s origins and a succession plan to the rite of who can claim to be the Champion Golfer.

• The Masters built upon the legacy of Bobby Jones and the first Grand Slam anchors the sport in Augusta and marks the beginning of Major Championship season.

• The US Open showcases American championship golf at its finest. It tests the mental and physical fortitude of its champions.

To join that group, The Players would likely need to embrace an international rotation.

That change could transform the championship into something even more compelling.

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A Global Players Championship

The most logical model would keep TPC’s Stadium Course as the tournament’s core hub while allowing the championship to travel periodically to other parts of the world.

One particularly compelling destination would be Australia.

Australia possesses some of the most architecturally rich golf courses in the world—courses shaped by sandy soils, wind, and strategy reminiscent of the game’s greatest traditions. Hosting the championship periodically in Australia would:

 • Expand the global footprint of the tournament

 • Embrace golf’s international audience

 • Create a truly global major championship

The Players could become something unique in golf: a rotating international major anchored by a permanent home at Sawgrass.

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The Reality of Prestige

The Players Championship already possesses many attributes of a major:

 • One of the strongest fields in professional golf

 • A championship venue in the Stadium Course

 • A purse and global attention that rival any event in the sport

What it lacks is not quality, but historical designation and representation - you can’t be a modern Major and jus cater to players on one tour.

Changing that designation would require institutional negotiation—or competitive disruption on a scale rarely seen in modern golf.

But golf history reminds us that the structure of championships has never been completely fixed.

If The Players ever does become a major and surplants the PGA Championship, it will not be because the game needed a fifth. It will be because the sport decided that the center of gravity had shifted.

And if that shift ever occurs, it will almost certainly begin, like so many memorable moments in the tournament’s history…on the island green at Sawgrass.

ANTIQUITY CELEBRATES: FOUR WEEKS UNTIL THE FIRST MAJOR OF THE YEAR

The Masters is only 4 weeks away and Antiquity Golf Co has created a very limited run of niche merchandise to celebrate the beginning of Major Championship Season.

ANTIQUITY GOLF CO created a limited run of only 20 of these sweatshirts. You can buy them on the ANTIQUITY GOLF CO website but if you email me you can save $25. Online they are selling for $125, but if you email me directly I will sell you one for $100 + shipping. Email me to see if we still have your size available.

ANTIQUITY GOLF CO created a limited run of the BERCKMANS & WASHINGTON RD Mid to Low Crown Green Rope Hat.

There are only 25 hats available.

If you email me directly you can save $15 over the website. The hats retail for $65 online, but I will sell them directly for $50 + shipping.

If you are looking for a high crown hat we have an extremely limited run of BERCKMAN & WASHINGTON RD premium hats.

We have created only 5 of these high crown premium golf hats made of water resistant material. If you email me directly you can save $15 over the website. Direct cost will be $70 + shipping. This is my preferred hat that I wear with our various designs.

Finally if you happen to own a Large Apple Watch- we have a couple of prototype Apple Watch bands. If you are interested shoot me an email.

THANK YOU

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. If you are attending this year’s Masters, I should be in and around Augusta over the weekend if you would like to connect.