‘Stands alone’: Brandel Chamblee makes a bold claim to the important status of players

The Players Championship occupies a curious place in golf’s hierarchy.

Since its founding in 1974, it has been the crown jewel of the PGA Tour. The list of past winners reads like a who’s who of the game’s legends, including Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Greg Norman and Tiger Woods. It also features a host course, TPC Sawgrass, which is consistently ranked among the best in the country.

But try as the Tour might, the Players have never quite managed to ascend to the highest level of professional golf events. Because the annual majors – the Masters, US Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship – anchor the sport’s calendar, the Players have always played second (or, more accurately, fifth) fiddle.

That’s not to say the forces in Ponte Vedra haven’t done their best to change that narrative. Every year when the Players Championship takes place, the familiar debate about its great worthiness flares up. This year is no different. With the tournament looming, the Tour has introduced a provocative new slogan in a fresh attempt to take its flagship event to the next level.

And it appears those within the global homeland are not the only ones pushing this message.

During a live set at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Saturday, analyst Brandel Chamblee made a bold statement about the players’ status.

“What is a major championship?” Chamblee said. “Of course it’s history and tradition and reverence and all those things. But at their core, these are tough events to win. They’re meant to be tougher events to win because of the pressure, because of the format – because everything lines up on that line. They have to be tough events to win, they have to have great fields and they have to produce indelible champions and indelible moments.”

There is little to say against that. The Players routinely cause drama on Sunday afternoons, and with water along the 16th, 17th and 18th holes, TPC Sawgrass boasts one of the most terrifying final stretches in professional golf.

But Chamblee’s plea for the players’ dignity was far from over.

“If you look at the Players Championship – with all due respect to the other four major championships – it is the best field in golf,” he continued. “It’s the deepest field in golf. And due to the fact that only one player has successfully defended it in its 50-year history, I’d say it’s the hardest major championship to win. Everyone else has had much more successful defenses.”

“Especially since it moved to TPC Sawgrass, which in my opinion – other than one hole – might be the best golf course they play a major championship on from a shot value perspective. You can talk about aesthetics all you want, risk-reward holes for sure, but from a shot value perspective you can’t touch TPC Sawgrass.”

Then came the line that set the internet on fire.

“So in any way that a metric can be used to measure whether something is a major, the players for me stand alone and above the other four major championships – not just as a major,” Chamblee said. “It is, in my opinion, the best major.”

Wow.

Not only are the players a big player, they are also the best important? Calling that a ‘hot take’ would be an understatement.

Chamblee has long been a polarizing figure in his role as a golf analyst, and this opinion will only fuel that fire. However, based on the discourse so far, there appear to be few, if any, people outside the walls of the PGA Tour who agree with him.