The Players Championship was widely rumored to potentially become the fifth golf major for the PGA Tour. The tournament, which is hosted by the TPC Sawgrass (also the PGA’s current headquarters), serves as the starting point for the circuit’s major tournaments. As a result, the PGA Tour even promoted the event with the tagline “March Is Going to Be Major” a few weeks ago.
Despite this promotional video and tagline by the tour, CEO Brian Rolapp has distinguished the Players from other golf majors based on the LIV Golfers. Typically, in a golf major, the PGA enables LIV players to return to the circuit and compete. In this way, the big tournaments have one of the most competitive fields in the world, resulting in a very competitive event.
However, when asked if Rolapp had considered allowing LIV golfers to compete in the Players Championship to help push it as a major, the CEO clearly stated that it was not a priority for him. According to a report by Front Office Sports, Rolapp stated,
“That’s not a priority I’ve put on my list. That’s not something I’ve considered to date. There’s other priorities.”
This season’s Players Championship has also seen a significant change in field size. Previously, 144 golfers competed in this event, but that number has been cut to 120 for this season.
Furthermore, the tournament features several unique elements for fans, including a $25 million prize pool, one of the richest on the PGA Circuit. Even the Official World Golf Rankings give the winner of the Players 80 points, the most for any non-major event (for golf majors, the amount is 100 points).
Brian Rolapp explains why he pushed the Players Championship as a potential golf major
This year’s Players Championship is due to begin on March 12. Before the event, Brian Rolapp addressed the media at a pre-tournament news conference on March 11. The CEO talked about how important the Players are to him and the PGA Tour. Later on, he went on to describe how he researched the circuit’s history and found out about numerous golf majors back then, but as time went on, the majors got reduced.
According to Front Office Sports, Rolapp explained,
“We take a lot of pride in The Players, and with all the major talk, some may say even too much pride. Ultimately, that is not for us to decide. I’m not entirely sure how majors become majors. The history is really interesting to study. There used to be more majors. There’s fewer majors. I think what’s important is that it’s not for us to decide. What is important is that this is a pretty special event and I think among the best events in golf.”
CEO Rolapp also stated that the PGA Tour is seeking to expand its scheduling structure. This season, the tournaments on the tour began in early January and will be held for 33 consecutive weeks. Some of these weeks will also feature a couple of tournaments overlapping.
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