Will WGC events ever be considered majors?

[mizuno_lover]

While I convalesce with my buggered back unable to play and I ponder the problems of the golfing universe one of the questions that came to mind was the title of this thread.  Personally I think four is enough majors and they are very special events that can be the crowning achievements of a players career separating them from the rest of the best.  To be truly considered a great player at least a couple of majors are needed in the resume.  Once upon a time a player needed a major to be inducted into the hall of fame not so these days, Colin Montgomerie, case in point.

 

The WGC events certainly have the best players in the world in their fields.  The top 70ish players qualify and prize money is obscene.  The trophies are big enough to choke a horse and they are worth 550 fed ex cup points each. With no cut and everyone making it through to the weekend and getting a cheque at the finish it also lacks the cut throat atmosphere that the majors have, with an outside qualifier in with a chance to win the day.  The majors also award 600 points to the winner so in that respect are a cut above the WGC events and rightly so because they are the tournaments that give us our golfing heroes, the best of the best, the Top Guns.

 

There is also talk every year that "The Players" is really the 5th major which makes it a wild card. So what do you think should/will the WGC events ever become Majors?

[jaskanski]

Does golf really need another major?

If it does, it's not up to WGC to make it so either. Fans, players, sponsors and a whole lot of other factors go into making a major - in other words it evolves INTO a major rather than being created.

There may well have been a time when the Canadian Open was in with a shout of becoming a major, but nowadays the largest portion of players (i.e. the PGA Tour) are reluctant to travel much further than their own back yard. Hence the bulk of major tournaments remain in the US and even the relatively young Masters tournament has to inject a little bit of fake tradition and rituals to make it a major - without green jackets in butler cabins, par 3 comps and crystals vases, caddies in white coveralls etc, it would be a rather limited field competition on a course that is relatively easy to keep a ball in play. Major worthy?

Without Bobby Jones probably not. But at least it evolved and the fans and players made it that way.

Today, the Players in just another extension of the PGA Tour and a mutual back patting event for already super rich players on a tricked up for TV course. It will never be a major IMO. Ask an Australian how it compares to their Open I'm and pretty sure they will have a better claim for major status given the events history and given the increased likelihood of players like Speith returning to defend the title. I know which one I'd rather watch.

[revkev]

Jaskanski - I agree with everything that you've written except your opinion of TPC Sawgrass, I've played several great courses, it's a great course.  In fact as a golf course it's as strong as or stronger than several courses that regularly host majors including the course being played for the PGA this year (the second best course in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.). 

 

Having written that the Players is not a Major, four is enough and if for some reason one would be replaced (why I don't know) it would have to be in a country other than the US - actually that might be the way to create a major to vie with the PGA - create something that moves to different countries, continents even every year.

 

I mostly agree with your assessment of the Masters - it's the easiest Major to win because of the limited field and the fact that a larger portion of the field has no chance of winning before it's even tee'd off - oh wait we can't say that because it's the Masters.  I think Augusta is more challenging than you are giving it credit for and if what you were saying were true then you would not have several Zach Johnson like players among the Champions - yes you can hit it anywhere and be in play but not in play to attack the pin and that's where the course gets interesting.

 

Bottom line is that four majors are enough.

[jaskanski]

Don't get me wrong, I actually love Masters week - but to have such a restricted level of entry (invitation only) and limited field, it really has no business being a major. Only the loyalty of patrons and players has made it so - together with a healthy slice of tv exclusivity to uphold the air of mystique.

The USPGA doesn't really deserve it any better either and even needed to change format from matchplay to stroke play in order to stimulate interest. It's certainly thrown up more surprise winners than any other major you could name too.

Don't get me started on Sawgrass though - any course that yields -24 as a winning score for a showcase competition is in serious need of a reality check. Which indeed they soon realised when they tricked up the course to yield a -5 aggregate score the next year with rock hard greens. Any course that consistently gives a winning score as an average of around -13 for 144 hand-picked players has no business calling itself a major.

[sp0rtsfan86]

The answer is no. TPC would probably be next. My guess is they could like Rev said make an international tournament. That would be one way to do it, plus make it in the off season.

[banacek303]

I don't think it's to do with the course, more so tradition, it's set in stone there are 4 majors, it's a standard. The issue would be raised if somebody won 19 and there'd been 5 a year.   

[ZenGolfer]

No.  If there is another major added, it should be The Players.

[HighFade]

There are 4 majors a year. That's what makes them majors. I get the feeling that TV revenues will make them add more, and I don't like it. But if it MUST happen, I think the Players should be the fifth.

[Fireinthehole]

People who say 4 is enough forget that it use to be 3 and before that 2. Taking the US amateur out made sense because pros couldn't play. I'd like to see it return to just 3.

 

Personally I'd like to see the Masters removed in place of The Players. Augusta looks nice on TV, but compared to majors such as the Us open, The Open, and PGA, it doesn't compare due to its exclusivity and the fact its played on the same course every year. Its never been my favorite organization either- story for another time.