Last month, the PGA Tour posted a promotional video for the Players Championship, saying “March is going to be major.”
That’s a pretty strong choice of wording in golf, considering there are four major championships, with the Players slotting in as the best tournament outside of the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship. Yet that one promotional video has had the golf world talking for a month again on whether the Players should be considered a fifth major.
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Media personalities, players and others have chimed in, and with the PGA Tour’s marquee event coming next week, it’s a topic of conversation that’s likely not to go away with TPC Sawgrass lurking.
Ahead of this week’s 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational, defending champion Russell Henley was asked about the Players and how he views the tournament. His answer was another adding fuel to the fire.
“I mean, I think it’s a major. It’s our home tournament,” Henley said. “I don’t know the statistics on like what they say, like best field in golf or whatever, but, I mean, it is. And the history with that tournament? I’ve always considered that a major in my mind. It’s just such a tricky golf course and it rewards great shots, typically. It visually is very intimidating. I feel like if you have a good week there, you’ve done a lot of really good things.”
Henley is correct in saying the Players normally has the strongest field in golf. TPC Sawgrass has emerged as one of the game’s best venues. Its list of champions is remarkable.
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But a major championship? Henley believes so.
“You look at the past champions and nobody is really, it hasn’t really favored any one player,” Henley said. “People typically don’t win it back-to-back, unless you’re Scottie. But it’s a tournament I always look forward to, I love the challenge of it… yeah, I consider it a major.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Russell Henley believes PGA Tour’s Players Championship is a major
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