ORLANDO, Fla. – Score another for the “Players Championship is a major” crowd.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday ahead of his title defense at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Russell Henley said he believes the PGA Tour’s flagship event at TPC Sawgrass should stand alongside the sport’s four majors, the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship.
“I mean, I think it’s a major,” Henley said. “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. It’s just such a tricky golf course, and it rewards great shots, typically. It visually is 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 it hasn’t really favored any one player. People typically don’t win it back-to-back, unless you’re Scottie. But yeah, it’s a tournament I always look forward to, I love the challenge of it, and I consider it a major.”
Henley’s comments come a few weeks after the PGA Tour released an ad campaign for The Players, which starts a week from Thursday, that stated, “March is going to be major.” Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee then backed up those words by saying, “When you look at the Players Championship – with all due respect to the other four major championships – it is the best field in golf.”
The PGA Tour also released a statement shortly after the commercial first aired: “Fans and players have long discussed The Players Championship’s status as a major. We understand that is not for us to decide. Ultimately it is up to our sport and its fans to recognize what the professionals who play the game already know.”
However, other PGA Tour pros, including Rory McIlroy, have disagreed.
“I’m a traditionalist, I’m a historian of the game,” McIlroy said at Pebble Beach. “We have four major championships.”
Henley, 36, hasn’t won a major or a Players title as part of his five career PGA Tour titles, though he agreed that winning at TPC Sawgrass would be high on the list.
“Definitely,” Henley added. “I mean, winning there, when you win on a golf course like that, with that kind of history, it proves you can do it anywhere, I think, for sure. Those closing holes are really tough, I would imagine, when you’re carrying a lead.”