It may not be a major, but the Players Championship proved the high value of top class stadium golf in Cameron Young’s thrilling one-stroke victory over England’s Matt Fitzpatrick last Sunday.
The PGA Tour teased in its promotions for the event that March would be “major”, putting the often argued status of their $25m (£18.9m) flagship event up for further debate.
Let us be clear, it is not a major. Never has been and never likely to be.
But the Players is still very, very special and the 2026 edition proved one of the best even though the tour’s biggest guns Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy failed to fire.
Risk and reward of back nine asks relentless questions’
Prime among the reasons why it is such a compelling competition is the Stadium Course itself. It does what it says on the tin, delighting huge crowds with a nerve-jangling test for the best players in the world year in, year out.
“I remember when I played it, I stood on the 18th tee and was scared witless,” recalled European Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson. “You can never, ever relax on that golf course.”
And so it came to pass that Young and Fitzpatrick arrived on that final tee box locked together with this pretigious title on the line. The vast expanse of water down the left had gobbled up Young’s ball less than 24 hours earlier.
Fitzpatrick had his own demons given his double bogey on that same hole, also in the third round.
The final day task demanded the utmost golfing courage and Young was in the mood. Of the leading contenders only he and Justin Thomas had taken on the teasing pin tight to the right edge of the island green 17th.
Young was rewarded with the birdie that drew him level with his Ryder Cup rival Fitzpatrick. Now it was time to unleash probably the furthest drive ever seen on Sawgrass’ closing hole.
At 375 yards, it was the longest to be officially recorded and crucially he found the fairway. Fitzpatrick also went with driver, but found the pine straw among the trees down the right.
If he had his time again, would a three-wood have been a better option? Decision making is something that comes under the microscope at the moments of the most intensity.
“I know Cam hits a draw, his moved a little bit,” Fitzpatrick said. “I figured mine would do the same. Obviously just went dead straight.”
Regardless of arguments over strategy, this was a big title decided by the finest of margins. Fitzpatrick could only bogey despite doing little else wrong.
Young went out and won it. This after Ludvig Aberg had thrown away his commanding position at the start of the back nine.
Again the golf course exacted demands that induced the Swede’s crucial errors as he found water on the 11th and 12th holes.
“The risk and reward of the back nine asks relentless questions and he failed pretty much immediately,” said Wilson who was part of the 5 Live commentary team in Florida.
“You can’t help thinking back to the chances he had at the end of the third round and then early on the final day. This course is always ready to bite, so you have to take advantage when you’re playing your best golf.”
And that made for a heady, suspenseful mix for those watching either on the ground or on television.
Golf too international for another US-based major’
New PGA Tour boss Brian Rolapp says he wants meaningful golf week in week out and that means significant consequences for good and bad play.
In the two previous weeks we saw Shane Lowry eaten up as he lost his swing in the ‘Bear Trap’, the ultra-demanding closing stretch at PGA National, and then Daniel Berger coughed up a big lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the fearsome Bay Hill.
It has been a Florida swing to prove the adage that tournaments are never over until they are over. Sawgrass put an exclamation mark on that before sell out crowds.
But it is still not a major because there are already four of those and five would be too many – especially if the fifth joined the Masters, US Open and US PGA as an American-based major.
Golf is too international for that scenario. Rolapp does not completely dismiss the notion, though.
“If you try to explain how major becomes a major you could talk to 10 different people and get 10 different answers,” he told BBC Sport.
“I don’t know the answer to that. I think the major talk is about recognising what people already know.
“If you are a fan, a player, a media partner, this event is one of the best events in golf. It’s not for us to decide what’s a major.
“Fans can like to debate it; it becomes an emotional topic. That’s great, they’re talking about golf and they’re talking about the Players and I’m great with that.
“But what I think it’s about is that this is a pretty special event and probably as importantly, if you talk to our players they think it is pretty special. And that’s great.”
After the drama of the first Players under his tenure, there can be no argument about that.
