The Players Championship occupies a curious place in golf’s hierarchy.
Since its inception in 1974, it has served as the crown jewel of the PGA Tour. Its list of past winners reads like a who’s who of the game’s legends, with Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Greg Norman and Tiger Woods between them. It also boasts a host course, TPC Sawgrass, that is consistently ranked among the best in the country.
But as hard as the tournament might be, The Players have never been able to ascend to the highest level of professional golf events. With annual championships—the Masters, US Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship—anchoring the sporting calendar, The Players have always played second (or rather, fifth) fiddle.
That’s not to say the powers that be in Ponte Vedra haven’t done their best to change that narrative. Every year the Players Championship takes place, the familiar debate about its main value grows. This year is no different. With the tournament on the horizon, Tour has came up with a provocative new label in another attempt to elevate her main event.
And it seems those inside the global house aren’t the only ones pushing that message.
In a live set at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Saturday, analyst Brandel Chamblee made a bold statement about the status of the players.
. @chambleebrandel gets paid to give his opinion and he did so here by calling the top players the best. “The players, for me, stand alone and above the other four major championships, not only as a major, but in my estimation, it is the best team.” Full comments pic.twitter.com/Wperyo0mKY
— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) February 7, 2026
“What constitutes a major championship?” Chamblee said. “Sure, there’s history and tradition and honor and all that stuff. But fundamentally, these are tough events to win. They’re meant to be tougher events to win because of the pressure, because of the organization — because everything is fair along that line. They have to be hard events to win, they have to have great fields and they have to produce indelible champions.”
There is little argument with any of them. Players routinely dish out drama on Sunday afternoons, and with water covering the 16th, 17th and 18th holes, TPC Sawgrass boasts one of the most formidable closing stretches in professional golf.
But Chamblee’s question of player worthiness was far from over.
“When you look at The Players Championship — with all due respect to the other four majors — it’s the best course in golf,” he continued. “It is the deepest course in golf. And due to the fact that in its 50-year history, only one player has successfully defended it, I would argue that it is the most difficult championship to win. Everyone else has had much more successful defenses.
“Especially after moving to TPC Sawgrass, which in my estimation — except for one hole — is arguably the best golf course that they play a major championship on from a stroke value standpoint. You can talk about aesthetics all you want, certainly about risk-reward holes, but from a stroke value standpoint, you can’t touch TPC.”
Then came the line that set the internet on fire.
“So in every single way that a metric can be used to measure whether something is important, The Players, to me, stands alone and above the other four major championships — not just as a major,” Chamblee said. “It is, in my estimation, the best degree.”
Wow.
Not only are the Players great – but also the best major? To call it 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 add fuel to that fire. Based on the discourse so far, however, it appears that few — if any — outside the walls of the PGA Tour agree with him.
