The PGA Tour made waves this week when promoting The Players Championship.
Their promotional video, posted to social media, said, “March is going to be major”, a not-so-subtle hint that the PGA Tour wants its flagship event at TPC Sawgrass to be golf’s fifth major championship.
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That sparked mass debate in a divided golf community, but the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee quickly united everybody with a ridiculous take.
Speaking at the WM Phoenix Open, he weighed in on whether The Players should be a major, saying, ““When you look at the Players Championship, with all due respect to the other four major championships, it is the best field in golf. It is the deepest field in golf.
“And by virtue of the fact that only one person in its 50-year history has managed to successfully defend it, I would argue that it is the hardest major championship to win.”
CBS’s Johnson Wagner has responded to this crazy claim.
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
Johnson Wagner calls Brandel Chamblee’s Players claim ‘infuriating’
The always-popular Wagner didn’t hold back when speaking about Chamblee’s claim.
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Speaking on the Golf on CBS YouTube channel, he said, “I’m not a fan of this take. It seems like the PGA Tour put out something that said March is major, and then I almost wonder if Brandel is getting a little kickback for this, because it just made no sense the way he said it’s the best major championship golf course as well.
“He said with the exception of the 17th hole, and I’m sorry you think this is better than Shinnecock, better than Augusta, Pebble. I mean, there’s a lot of great major championship venues that require these shot values he was talking about.
“So, The Players is an unbelievable event. I’ve played in a lot of them. They treat us so well that week. And I love the golf course, the fans, everything about it. But it’s like you said, be the best non-major there is. And they do it great year in, year out. The necessity of being called a major is infuriating.”
It’s a strong response, and an opinion that’s pretty much unanimous among golf fans, even the ones that believe The Players should be a major.
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And before his appearance at the Pebble Beach pro-am, Rory McIlroy weighed in on this debate.
Rory McIlroy says that The Players should be a major championship
McIlroy won The Players in 2025, and was asked if he thinks the event should be a major championship. But as a golf traditionalist, he doesn’t think so.
He said, “Look, I’d love to have seven majors instead of five, that sounds great. I think The Players is one of the best golf tournaments in the world. I don’t think anyone disputes that or argues that.
“I think from a player perspective, it’s amazing. I think from an on-site fan experience it’s amazing. It’s an amazing golf course, location, venue. But I don’t — like again, I’m a traditionalist, I’m a historian of the game. We have four major championships.
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“If you want to see what five major championships looks like, look at the women’s game. I don’t know how well that went for them. But it’s The Players. Like it doesn’t need to be anything else.
“Like I would say it’s got more of an identity than the PGA Championship does at the minute. So like from an identity standpoint, I think The Players has got it nailed. But I think The Players can be — it is an amazing tournament in its own right.
“And I don’t think it being classified a major or not a major makes it any more or any less. I’m still very proud to have won that tournament twice as I’m sure all the other champions are. I don’t think — it stands on its own without the label, I guess.”
Golf has four majors, and McIlroy would like to keep it that way. This way, the history books can be preserved.
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