Major champion calls for PLAYERS to be made fifth major

It’s the conversation that simply refuses to go away: should The PLAYERS Championship become men’s golf’s fifth major?

According to Lee Trevino, the answer is an emphatic ‘yes’.

Speaking during this week’s edition of the PGA Tour’s flagship event at TPC Sawgrass, the six-time major champion insisted that the time has come to elevate The PLAYERS to the same status as the Masters, PGA, US Open and Open.

Asked the question on the Golf Channel’s coverage of the event, 83-year-old Trevino replied: “Yes, and there’s no question in my mind about it.

“The field, the golf course, 100,000 people, why not? I mean, it’s unbelievable. Unbelievable.”

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Trevino’s stance is, by his own admission, quite a departure from the position he took on the tournament in its early years when it moved to its Sawgrass home.

“We wasn’t all for this, you know, in the beginning,” he added. “When we first looked at this and they were talking about building it, there was a, there was a little thing going on, ‘Oh we don’t need this thing. What the hell do we need this thing for? What is this?’

“I’m gonna tell you something. What [former PGA Tour commissioner] Deane Beman and his crew did here, and what they’ve done is just unbelievable.”

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Trevino doubled down on his conviction about The PLAYERS during an appearance on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio.

“We have the strongest field of any golf tournament,” said the American. “The viewing is absolutely unbelievable. I think it’s qualified now.

“I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be another major championship. I don’t think it’s going to tilt one way or the other who won more majors or anything.

“It would give Jack a bit more, Tiger a few more and me one more. I don’t see any reason why not.”

Michael McEwan is bunkered's Head of Content and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Head of Content