'5th major' deserves day in sun

The Players Championship draws praise worthy of the big tournaments.
By DOUG FERGUSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The argument is the same every spring.
The Players Championship has a great golf course that the U.S. television audience knows as well as any. The field is considered the strongest and deepest of the year, one that is not bogged down by amateur hopefuls, club pros or Charles Coody. The TPC at Sawgrass delivers drama like few other stages in golf.
Clearly, it certainly has all the ingredients of a major championship.
Another nugget of evidence came Monday morning along A1A, the coastal road that leads to Sawgrass. A man stood off to the side of the road with a cardboard sign that read, "I NEED TICKETS."
Alas, no money was exchanged. No one even stopped. Come to think of it, there was nowhere near the traffic one finds on Washington Road in Augusta, Ga., or 17-mile Drive when the U.S. Open goes to Pebble Beach.
There are other subtleties that separate The Players Championship from the majors.
"We don't get an annual report in our locker," David Toms said Tuesday morning. "You go to the majors, they don't want you to know what's going on."
One difference
Jeff Sluman was asked what he does at the U.S. Open that he doesn't at The Players Championship.
"Pray for rain," he replied.
Sluman is responsible for the defining statement on the status of The Players Championship as a major when he said three years ago, "When you go Denny's and order the Grand Slam breakfast, the don't give you five things, do they? They give you four."
The argument figures to pick up more steam next year when The Players Championship moves to the second week of May, which had less to do with agronomy and a divided TV audience than the PGA Tour's longtime desire for its showcase event to be a classified a major.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem won't publicly lobby for this to be a major, although the move to May was no accident. In his eyes, golf now has five prestigious events in consecutive months, starting with the Masters in April and ending with the PGA Championship in August.
Mystery
But what -- or who -- confers status on a major championship remains a mystery.
"I don't think there's any magic in four majors, there can only be four majors, like tennis," Phil Mickelson said. "There are four tournaments that tend to stand out with history and challenge and strength of field and so forth. This is becoming one of them."
No argument there.
But making The Players Championship a major is not as simple as the PGA Tour declaring it one.
What keeps The Players Championship from being a major is the very organization that longs for it to be one.
The majors are run by four groups -- Augusta National, the USGA, the Royal & amp; Ancient and the PGA of America. Each run one tournament a year with a full field of golf's best players. The Players Championship, on the other hand, is among 41 events run by the PGA Tour. Ultimately, it's a PGA Tour event in a prom dress.
Rite of spring
"They can dress it up as much as they want, but it's a regular event with a big purse," Toms said when asked to compare this with the majors. "It's a great event. It's the best one we have."
The fact this "fifth major" discussion has become a rite of spring speaks to the quality. No other tournament gets consideration as a fifth major.
Still, the more people talk about it, the more it seems like the PGA Tour is forcing the issue.
"If you have to sell it as a major, then it's not a major," Kevin Sutherland said. "It's still a great, great tournament."
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