Rory McIlroy Says All The Right Things About The 'Need' For The Players To Become Golf's Fifth Major

We haven't even made it to the halfway point of February, and we're a full five weeks away from this year's Players Championship, but the PGA Tour's flagship event is the talk of the golf world. Rory McIlroy has thrown his opinion into the age-old conversation about ‘golf's fifth major,' and it should quiet some of the noise.

The idea of The Players becoming a major championship – specifically the need for that to happen – is nothing new. It's a topic of conversation every year, but this time around, the chatter began a bit earlier than usual. The tournament shared the slogan ‘March Is Going To Be Major’ earlier this month, and then Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee threw gallons of gas on the fire by claiming that The Players "stands alone and above the other four major championships."

McIlroy was asked during his pre-tournament press conference at Pebble Beach this week to weigh in on the discussion, and he checked all the right boxes with his opinion.

Rory McIlroy sees no need to make The Players a major. (Photo by Josh Chadwick/Getty Images)

"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," McIlroy explained. "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. You know, if you want to see what five major championships looks like, look at the women's game. I don't know how well that's 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 it doesn't -- I think The Players can be -- it is an amazing tournament in its own rite and I don't think it being classified a major or not a major makes it any more or any less."

No lies detected. Just because we could designate another golf tournament as a major does not mean we should.

Men's golf has four major championships, and history matters. There has to be a non-major on the calendar that stands above the rest, and The Players will continue to have that recognition given the venue, purse, list of past champions, and where it falls on the calendar, a month ahead of the Masters.