PGA Tour golfers field reporters’ questions about the tournament’s standing in golf every year. But after the recent ad campaign, the big names were better prepared than usual.
“I know what you’re trying to bait me into saying, but listen, it’s the Players Championship … that’s what I view it as,” five-time major winner Brooks Koepka said. “Everybody knows it’s a tournament you want to win.”
Brooks Koepka is keen to win the Players title, considered by many as the ‘5th’ major. Credit: Getty Images
World No.40 Jason Day, whose lone major was the 2015 PGA Championship, is among the Australians to have claimed a Players title in the past decade, along with LIV golfer Cameron Smith (2022). Day, the 2016 winner at TPC Sawgrass, says leading late on the final day is as nerve-wracking as the throes of a major Sunday.
“Of course,” the former world No.1 told this masthead on Tuesday. “It definitely feels like a major. It’s held on a golf course with a very iconic finish.”
So what does Day think of the debate? “If you try and push it [the narrative], it will never stick, so it’s just got to keep building,” he said. “I think at some point maybe people will look at it differently, but as of right now, [opinions] may be a split amongst players.”
On the positive side of that split sits Min Woo Lee, Australia’s most recent contender at TPC Sawgrass. He played in the final group and briefly held the Sunday lead in 2023, only to fade to a share of sixth behind winner Scottie Scheffler. He tied for 20th last year.
Australia’s Jason Day says the Players Championship feels like a major tournament.Credit: Getty Images
“Yeah, I mean, I would like that,” PGA Tour winner Lee said. “I love this course, and it fits my eye. There’s a lot of creative shots you need here, so I stand on the side of it being ‘yes’. We obviously have four good majors, so a fifth one would be pretty cool. [Women’s golf] has five, so why not us [too]?”
Lee and four other Australians – Scott, Day, Karl Vilips and Cameron Davis – will tee up in Thursday’s opening round (Thursday night, AEDT). A victory, though, would mean more for veterans Scott and Day. The latter overcame a years-long slump that saw him plummet to 175th on the world rankings, with a 13th career PGA Tour win in 2023.
Now 38, Day said a Players Championship win would boost his legacy.
“It’d be off the charts,” Day said. “Two Players [titles] and a major and all the other [PGA Tour wins]? That’d be pretty special. Would I be done? Probably not, but a Players win to me is huge.”
Huge, but not a major yet.
