The Players Championship is often termed as the ‘unofficial fifth major tournament’. However, due to the lack of LIV Golfers’ participation, the term may not be apt to link with it. The PGA Tour’s flagship tournament has had some hard blows because of the ongoing rift in the men’s professional golf circuit.
Recently, a Power Poll conducted this month highlighted the fact that the upcoming flagship tournament has certainly lost its luster. The major reason behind this is the missing top players who have defected to the Saudi-backed league. The tournament is considered to have a field full of big-name golfers – be it their OWGR rank or their legacy.
Many golf experts have made comments on the tarnishing status of the Players Championship due to the golf civil war between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Let’s take a look at them:
Golf Experts Share Their Thoughts On The Players Championship Suffering Due To LIV Golf
MyGolfSpy’s editor Sean Fairholm has said that the field of the 50th edition of the upcoming PGA Tour flagship event has the worst field in his memory. He reasoned players defecting to LIV Golf as the suffering factor for the Sawgrass-hosted tournament. He said,
“You might have picked the single-worst time in the past 20 years to ask this question. This year’s Players Championship will be the worst field we’ve had at Sawgrass in recent memory. No event has been hurt more by LIV than the Players. Forget calling it a major PGA Tour will just be praying for a decent winner.”
Gary Van Sickle of Sports Illustrated also felt that missing LIV Golfers in the field of The Players Championship has inched its possibility to earn a major status.
“The Players mighta been inching towards major status, but with LIV players missing, it’s over.” Sickle called it, “Major derailment.”
Both the LPGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions already have five major tournaments, while men’s professional golf has only four. But the Players Championship, with a successful history of 50 years, had the best argument to become the fifth major in the near future. All four majors, the Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open, and the Open Championship have a similar kind of structure with the best of the best players competing with each other.
With the ongoing negotiations between the PGA Tour and the PIF, if successful, it can be said that, in the future, LIV golfers may get the chance to compete at the prestigious Sawgrass-hosted tournament. But, for that to happen, fans can only wait and hope for a successful deal between the parties involved.
