After quite a few debates about considering The Players Championship a major, the tournament's director voiced his thoughts on the issue, that might close the conversation.

The Players' Executive Director, Lee Smith spoke to reporters on February 12, 2025, and gave a direct answer. His comments came as the PGA Tour rolled out its "March Is Going To Be Major" campaign, a slogan that got people talking across the golf world.

Smith told reporters at TPC Sawgrass the campaign wasn't random. "I hope you noticed our use of the word that we've somewhat shied away from over the last 10 years," Smith said at the February 2025 media day.

The 49-year-old also said, "This is a signal of the confidence, momentum, and offense that is coming out of our building these days." It's a big shift from how the Tour used to talk about the event.

Lee Smith Signals the PGA Tour’s New Approach to Major Status

Smith made one thing clear: the Tour won't back down from the "conversation" about declaring The Players a major.

"We're confident about the qualifications of The Players Championship," he told reporters on February 12. "We wanted to start a conversation."

However, that conversation's been building for years. The Players gets one of golf's best fields every March. The prize money matches the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and The Open Championship, but it's still not counted as a major.

However, Brandel Chamblee and Rory McIlroy's conflicting opinions about making The Players the unofficial fifth major says that fans will also have different views. Now it's upto the Tour's if they want to drop the "unofficial" part from The Players' "unofficial major" title.

Do you think that the Tour will eventually declare The Players as the fifth major?

Follow Club Golf for more.

Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Souvik Roy