Should THE PLAYERS be the 5th Major?

[Dwayne From Minden]

1) Best field...

2) Most recognizable hole...

3) Best field...

[DogtorEvil]

[ITdrummer]

I'm fine with the 4 they have now.

[inudesu]

It's all just golf. They should all count the same.

[detltu]

I think it should be the 5th major.

In addition to what you said. 4) Big Money

[Dwayne From Minden]

In addition to what you said. 4) Big Money

And that might be an understatement - $9.5 million

[PawDawg]

No tradition.

[Dwayne From Minden]

No tradition.

36 years and here is a list of past Champions

There is ALOT of MAJOR Champions on that list and very few "uh-ohs" like the PGA Champinship


History: Winners

1974 Jack Nicklaus
1975 Al Geiberger
1976 Jack Nicklaus
1977 Mark Hayes
1978 Jack Nicklaus
1979 Lanny Wadkins
1980 Lee Trevino
1981 Ray Floyd
1981 Curtis Strange
1982 Jerry Pate
1983 Hal Sutton
1984 Fred Couples
1985 Calvin Peete
1986 John Mahaffey
1987 Sandy Lyle
1988 Mark McCumber
1989 Tom Kite
1990 Jodie Mudd
1991 Steve Elkington
1992 Davis Love III
1993 Nick Price
1994 Greg Norman
1995 Lee Janzen
1996 Fred Couples
1997 Steve Elkington
1998 Justin Leonard
1999 David Duval
2000 Hal Sutton
2001 Tiger Woods
2002 Craig Perks
2003 Davis Love III
2004 Adam Scott
2005 Fred Funk
2006 Stephen Ames
2007 Phil Mickelson
2008 Sergio Garcia
2009 Henrik Stenson

[inudesu]

No tradition.

I'm admittedly ignorant of how this stuff works, but isn't the point of having a "Major" at all in "sports" like tennis and golf because not every player plays in every event? So they (the governing bodies or media?) picks a few big tournaments that have most of the best players and those get to be important? Because winning the Squire Creek Invitational or the Colonial is easier than winning the Master's (because the pool is smaller - or at least not as highly regarded)?

If that's the case, can't they just come up with an objective way to figure out which golf tournaments have the strongest fields and let those be the "majors?" If the Players has better players than the Masters, then the Players should be more important in the pecking order of determining how good a player is, right?

[ITdrummer]

I'm admittedly ignorant of how this stuff works, but isn't the point of having a "Major" at all in "sports" like tennis and golf because not every player plays in every event? So they (the governing bodies or media?) picks a few big tournaments that have most of the best players and those get to be important? Because winning the Squire Creek Invitational or the Colonial is easier than winning the Master's (because the pool is smaller - or at least not as highly regarded)?

If that's the case, can't they just come up with an objective way to figure out which golf tournaments have the strongest fields and let those be the "majors?" If the Players has better players than the Masters, then the Players should be more important in the pecking order of determining how good a player is, right?

That's pretty much how it's done now.

[inudesu]

That's pretty much how it's done now.

Then what's the question? The top four fields are "Major" and everything else is just a golf tournament.

DFM, are you asking if there should be 5 "majors" instead of 4? Isn't the whole thing pretty arbitrary anyway?

[Dwayne From Minden]

DFM, are you asking if there should be 5 "majors" instead of 4? Isn't the whole thing pretty arbitrary anyway?

Yes - should there be 5 majors

Once there were only 2 majors - the US Amateur (USGA) and the British Amateur (R&A)

Then there were 4 majors - which included - the US Open (USGA), The Open Championship (R&A), the US Am (USGA) & British AM (R&A)

Then there were 3 majors - The US Open (USGA), The Open Championship (R&A), The PGA Championship (The PGA)

Now there are 4 majors - The US Open (USGA), The Open Championship (R&A), The PGA Championship (The PGA) and The Masters (Augusta National)

The US Open & The Open Championship are open to anyone who qualifies through sectional qualifying (Josh Scobee, etal)

The PGA Championship - has a certain number of slots set aside for club pros (PGA Professionals who qualify via seperate tournaments)

The Masters - invitation only

The Players (PGA Tour) is the only tourney completely set on strength of field of PGA players

[inudesu]

Yes - should there be 5 majors

Who gets to decide?

Is it just a made up thing from the media/fans? So you can say "my favorite golfer won 50 tournaments and 9 of those were majors?"

Or is it a PGA thing that really means something? Like do you get a real prize for winning a major other than just getting to say you won a "major" and the prize money for winning (and more publicity than winning some random tournament)?

Seems like mostly a marketing thing to me. People will only really get excited (to the level that they get excited over golf) so many times per year. If you make a big deal out of just a couple of tournaments per year you can make them seem like a big deal in and of themselves (as opposed to most tournaments being basically alike and blending together). Maybe having too many would diminish the brand.

[ITdrummer]

Who gets to decide?

Is it just a made up thing from the media/fans? So you can say "my favorite golfer won 50 tournaments and 9 of those were majors?"

Or is it a PGA thing that really means something? Like do you get a real prize for winning a major other than just getting to say you won a "major" and the prize money for winning (and more publicity than winning some random tournament)?

Seems like mostly a marketing thing to me. People will only really get excited (to the level that they get excited over golf) so many times per year. If you make a big deal out of just a couple of tournaments per year you can make them seem like a big deal in and of themselves (as opposed to most tournaments being basically alike and blending together). Maybe having too many would diminish the brand.

Since the new Fed Ex Cup was started, each tournament is worth a certain about of points. The majors are worth a lot more points.

[detltu]

Tournaments that get you an automatic invitation to the masters with a win:

1. Masters Tournament Champions (Lifetime)
2. U.S. Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
3. The Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
4. PGA Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
5. Winners of the Players Championship (Three years)

Its only 3 years because it is not technically a major but it is clearly a step above all other tournaments because it is the only non major that gets you into the masters on its own.