PGA Tour’s Provocative New Ad Suggests Return of ‘Big 5’ Debate

Should The Players Championship become golf’s fifth major?

That’s the question the not-so-subtle PGA Tour wants you to ask.

The Tour released a provocative new Players promo video Thursday afternoon during late window coverage WC Phoenix Open that felt like an exercise in subliminal messaging.

The opening photo — an upside-down reflection of JJ Spaun — serves as a callback to the dramatic, splashy finish to last year’s Players, where Spaun made an inspired charge before his hopes ended on arguably golf’s most famous lake.

Next up is Sepp Straka looking at TPC Sawgrass’ iconic 17th island green. (Why Straka? I’m not exactly sure, but my best guess is that his was the strongest look the Tour had on file.)

Then the last Big Name Players champions, Scottie Scheffler (who won in 2023 and 2024) and then Rory McIlroy (2019 and 2025) and then Justin Thomas (2021), the three most recent winners of the tournament in good standing, who are also three of golf’s most popular stars (2 golf’s top 20 stars). sample Cameron Smith, now of LIV Golf, not shown).

The shooting is unsatisfying, cloudy, humorous, dramatic. A voice permeates the scene.

I can’t get you out of my head

Suddenly you’re underwater, then halfway up, then up in the sky. The greenery of the island and the stadium around it appear before you. There are many people there.

It’s Corey Conners. There is a ball in the water. It’s Tony Finau. Another splash. It’s one player in distress and then another. It’s Collin Morikawa, so upset he’s taken off his hat. Another splash. A hole in one from Shane Lowry. (Remember?) A smile from Brooks Koepka. (Remember that one?) A jump from Ryan Moore. (His days as one of the faces of the tour can be counted.) Then, boom. Uppercut fist pump by Tiger Woods, marking the iconic “Better Than Most” moment.

And then comes the label.

MARCH IS GOING TO BE BIG

It’s barely on the screen; blink and you might just miss it. But the message seems clear enough.

Players being described as “big” is, at least, a strong suggestion. Green-lighting this particular label doesn’t happen by accident — especially not for a PGA Tour under new CEO Brian Rolapp, who is entering his first full season on the offensive. In recent weeks, the Tour has recruited many returning players from LIV and pushed ahead with plans to reimagine the schedule under visionaries like Tiger Woods and Theo Epstein. The latest development is just one piece of marketing material, but it suggests something bigger: Rolapp is scaling up the Tour’s vision and, in the process, testing the limits of its new momentum.

The main discussion of players as the fifth is not new. It certainly predates my arrival in the world of golf media. Based on conversations with smart people, the Tour has wavered on the seriousness of the “big” designation many times over the years.

Still, it’s easy to see why the Tour would want the Players to make it big. By the most objective measures, the PGA Tour is the strongest and richest tour in the world – but if we judge by ownership of golf’s most important events (the majors), it comes up empty. The PGA Tour does not own the Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open, the Open Championship or even the Ryder Cup. I doubt Rolapp is particularly happy with that setup. I suspect it’s also the Tour’s private equity partners. They would like to master all four degrees. At the very least, they would like to own A.

And here we are, with the Tour using its marketing material to once again test the waters of the major championship discussion. Is this a test balloon – or the start of an organized campaign? Looks like we’re about to find out.

Update: I emailed the Tour asking for comment on the new ad. As we were publishing this story, they sent the following statement. The second sentence seems… suggestive:

“Fans and players have long debated the status of the Players Championship as a major. We understand that it is not up to us to decide. Ultimately, it is up to our sport and its fans to know what the professionals who play the game already know.”

In the meantime, it’s worth considering five questions about what a theoretical Player as the fifth great means.

1. Who sets the diplomas anyway?

Oh boy, good question. The short version: Some golfers and some writers. It was obscure for a while, but it’s been a largely settled discussion for decades.

There was a time, pre-Masters, in which US and British amateurs were considered majors. In 1930, just four years before Augusta National’s first invitational tournament, Bobby Jones won those two plus the US Open and Open Championships and was considered a Grand Slam winner.

The modern Grand Slam, according to our in-house expert Michael BambergerIt had its roots in the 1930s, but didn’t become a “thing” until 1960, when Arnold Palmer and his favorite sportsman, Bob Drum, decided on the four events on a flight to St. Andrews… or so the story goes. There were other major players involved in choosing the majors, and other good sportswriters, too (I write, wistfully, imagining this power), but the power to make such pronouncements derives largely from the rise of golf on TV, which elevated stars like Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to authority figures. Of course, this leaves a deep irony in the formation of the modern slam: The majors are each over 90 years old, but the Grand Slam may not yet be 70 years old.

There was still some confusion surrounding the Grand Slams of the 1960s and 1970s, when it was unclear whether Nicklaus should count his 1959 and 1961 US Amateur titles as majors. But eventually a common vernacular emerged around the four major events: the Masters, the PGA, the US Open, and the Open Championship. Horse racing has its Triple Crown, and golf has its Grand Slam, an epic quartet of tournaments stretching from early spring to late summer.

Principals are “officials” in several ways; they are referenced in manuals, Hall-of-Fame criteria, media guides, Wikipedia pages, and the like. But there is also no organization or individual responsible for changing their definition. It’s a funny thing to think about. They are the greats because we all agree they are.

If the Players aren’t great, what is IS that?

Players is not a great and has not been great – but it is IS next best thing: second in PGA Tour player scoring statistics. Justin Thomas has two majors plus one players. Rory McIlroy has five majors plus two majors. Yeah, that’s a bit heavy. Rolapp’s quest is for “simplicity,” and that can be simplified. But it is also the way things are; The Players is the PGA Tour’s biggest event … but it’s not important.

It’s worth noting how good the players have become. It’s not just the number 17; TPC Sawgrass is a great tournament venue. I wrote that it is Masters in Florida; we return every year to a familiar, iconic location with famous dangers, great champions and important moments. Under Rae’s Creek for Green Island and under Augusta’s historic manor house for Ponte Vedra High Palace, you get the idea. The crowds are great, it is THE event in town, the broadcast feels big and seems to get bigger every year.

What is the case for the main players?

I think I just made that case. Iconic venue, unforgettable moments, over 50 years of history, big winners, a massive purse, high TV coverage, huge crowds. It is objectively one of the best tournaments on the golf calendar.

For the biggest thing that works ANTI Players as the main is her field. The majors have gained strength in the 2020s because they have served as the only common meeting ground for the stars of the PGA Tour AND LIV. In some ways, it could be argued that what makes it big in 2026 is that all of them the best players are present. Currently, the Tour only welcomes Tour players to compete in the Players.

But there’s an intriguing potential subplot here. This is pure speculation, but if Players wanted to achieve major status, could it create a qualifying tier for LIV top players and serve as a crossover event that transcends tournament rivalry? I don’t know. But it looks like you’re going to have to open the field in some way to seriously enter the conversation.

What is the case ANTI Players as the main?

HAD a quotea few years ago, by John Feinstein on the Golf Channel: “When you go to Denny’s and order the Grand Slam, they don’t give you five things, do they?”

You get the idea. A grand slam means four wins in tennis, a grand slam means four runs in baseball, a grand slam means four things at Denny’s. In golf, the Grand Slam means four events.

LPGA added a fifth major decade of the last. I would argue that this has only served to muddy the waters in terms of important tournaments on their schedule. Five degrees is a lot.

Here’s where I got it: I’m fine with players majoring in the abstract – but I’m not fine with five majors. Whether through a duel or a hostile control, Players must bring down another great to raise themselves.

What would happen if he became a major?

We’ll have to do some serious arithmetic, for one thing. Nicklaus won three majors, so he would suddenly have 21 majors. Woods won two of them, so he would be up to 17 majors in total, but still further behind Jack.

Fred Couples would jump from one major to three, as would Steve Elkington, as would Hal Sutton, as would Davis Love III. I think we would have their votes.

Perhaps the biggest difference would be between those whose current principal total is zero. Matt Kuchar would suddenly become a major champion. So does Rickie Fowler. And Si Woo Kim. And KJ Choi.

Scottie Scheffler would suddenly have six majors. Rory McIlroy would suddenly have seven. On the other hand, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen would see their major totals hold, as neither player overlapped with the Players. Keeping results between generations is difficult. Apples and feathers.

I think we’ll be hearing more from the tour in the coming weeks. I imagine we’ll be hearing from Rolapp himself in the Players themselves. I’m curious what he’ll have to say — and if the M word it is part of it.

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