You can argue whether The Players Championship should be a Major or not, and plenty will, but what would the golfing landscape look like if it was?
Who doesn’t love a hypothetical, and when there’s a question that always does the rounds then why not take a look at what it would look like if TPC Sawgrass played host to a Major each year.
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So let’s play a game of ‘what if’ shall we? What would the history books look like if The Players was a Major?
Firstly, in the overall standings of Major champions in the men’s game, which in truth wouldn’t change a whole lot at the top of tree, Jack Nicklaus would actually increase his lead over Tiger Woods from three to four.
That’s due to Nicklaus winning three of the first five editions of The Players with Tiger ‘only’ able to win twice at Sawgrass – which would make it his least successful Major in this new goling world.
In the list of Major champions the biggest moves come a bit further down, with Phil Mickelson and Lee Trevino both getting one extra to move to seven and join some illustrious names from the past on seven Major titles.
Rory McIlroy would join that group thanks to his two Players titles, while Scottie Scheffler jumps from four to six Majors and joins Sir Nick Faldo in tied 15th on the new all-time list.
|
Ranking |
Majors |
Players |
New Total |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1. Jack Nicklaus |
18 |
3 |
21 |
|
2. Tiger Woods |
15 |
2 |
17 |
|
3. Walter Hagen |
11 |
0 |
11 |
|
4. Ben Hogan |
9 |
0 |
9 |
|
4. Gary Player |
9 |
0 |
9 |
|
6. Tom Watson |
8 |
0 |
8 |
|
7. Harry Vardon |
7 |
0 |
7 |
|
7. Bobby Jones |
7 |
0 |
7 |
|
7. Gene Sarazen |
7 |
0 |
7 |
|
7. Sam Snead |
7 |
0 |
7 |
|
7. Arnold Palmer |
7 |
0 |
7 |
|
7. Lee Trevino |
6 |
1 |
7 |
|
7. Phil Mickelson |
6 |
1 |
7 |
|
7. Rory McIlroy |
5 |
2 |
7 |
|
15. Nick Faldo |
6 |
0 |
6 |
|
15. Scottie Scheffler |
4 |
2 |
6 |
Multiple Players Championship winners
More big movers in terms of Major wins come from the list of multiple Players winners – including Fred Couples who would go from a one-time Major champion from his 1992 Masters success to a three-time Major winner with victory at The Players in 1984 and then 12 years later in 1996.
1995 PGA…
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