Rory McIlroy Nailed His Take on THE PLAYERS/Major Championship Debate

THE PLAYERS being turned into golf’s fifth major championship has been the talk of the town. Everyone and their mother has taken their turn to dish an opinion—including my boss, so make sure you read his story—and that trend continued Tuesday when Rory McIlroy was asked for his two cents.

“Look, I'd love to have seven majors instead of five, that sounds great,” McIlroy said. “I think THE PLAYERS is one of the best golf tournaments in the world. 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.

“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.”

The Northern Irishman added THE PLAYERS has more of an identity than the PGA Championship right now, and its status as a major wouldn’t change its place in the game. Oh, and if it were up to him, he’d move the PGA back to August to serve as “glory’s last shot.”I’ve long argued that fixing, for lack of a better word, the major schedule doesn’t start with adding a fifth tournament, but instead improving the PGA. It’s the one major that lacks consistency on an annual basis.

The Masters is the Masters. The U.S. Open is going to kick your teeth in. The Open just rocks. But the PGA? No identifying factor comes to mind.

My solution: go to golf courses we never see.

Send it to Bandon. Send it to Cypress Point. Hell, call up Pine Valley. Morph the PGA Championship into something golf fan’s will sprint to their TV for.

Now, I’m not going to act like an expert. I have no clue what it takes to set up a championship at a golf course, let alone one as remote as Bandon, but you get the idea. Get rid of places like Valhalla, like Quail Hollow. Let’s go to tracks that will get the people going!

A tournament is always going to have to be the best non-major, and THE PLAYERS is already executing that role to perfection.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Instead, fix the thing that’s already broken.

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