Russell Henley’s Take On The Players As The 'Fifth Major' Is Exactly What You'd Expect
The latest PGA Tour player to weigh in.
We've made it to March, the month in which The Players is contested at TPC Sawgrass. This means the yearly dialogue about whether the PGA Tour's marquee event is or perhaps should be golf's fifth major championship is in full voice.
The Players tournament itself leaned into the always-heated, yet relatively pointless discussion in February, by promoting the event with the tagline ‘March is going to be major.’
It seems like just about everyone – from notable players to media members to the casual fan – has offered up their opinion on the matter over the years.
Not that my opinion matters all that much – I'm just a guy who writes about the game for a living – but I'm very much in the camp that the current setup of professional golf having four majors is perfect. History and tradition matter, and The Players is in a perfectly fine spot as being the premier, non-major event on the calendar each year.
Russell Henley is a fan of The Players. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Russell Henley, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, sees things differently.
"I think it's a major. It's our home tournament. I don't know the statistics on like what they say, like best field in golf or whatever, but, I mean, it is. And the history with that tournament? I mean, I've always considered that a major in my mind," Henley told the media ahead of this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational.
"It's just such a tricky golf course and it rewards great shots, typically. It is visually very intimidating. I feel like if you have a good week there, you've done a lot of really good things.
You look at the past champions and nobody is really, it hasn't really favored any one player. People typically don't win it back-to-back, unless you're Scottie (Scheffler). But it's, yeah, it's a tournament I always look forward to, I love the challenge of it, and it's one of, yeah, I consider it a major."
Henley tipping The Players as a major and hyping up the event to the highest degree is what he is supposed to do. The Players is the PGA Tour's flagship event, boasts one of the strongest fields the field has to offer, pays a purse of $25 million, and is played in the backyard of PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Henley, just like every other PGA Tour player should wisely do, is simply promoting the PGA Tour and its most well-known event. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, either, but to act as if Henley calling The Players a major is some bold opinion is a reaction not based in reality.
Just because we could designate another golf tournament as a major does not mean we should.