The Players Championship returning to March was one of the key elements of the PGA Tour's revamped schedule for 2019. It also ensured one of golf's most tiresome debates would be held a bit earlier in the calendar this year: Should the Players be considered golf's fifth major championship?
Technically, of course, it's not. However, the PGA Tour, led by commissioner Jay Monahan, has begun calling the sixth-month stretch that includes the four men's majors and is bookended by the Players and the FedEx Cup Playoffs as "The Season of Championships." The Players now has dramatic new theme music and a snazzy new trophy. And golfers from Charley Hoffman to David Duval have been referring to the PGA Tour's flagship event as a major.
But another tour pro, Zac Blair, disagrees. And he made his thoughts on the matter pretty clear on Monday:
The 28-year-old BYU product is not in the field at this week's Players after losing his PGA Tour card last season. He has a T-49 and a missed cut in two previous starts at TPC Sawgrass, not that any of that info has any bearing on his emergence as one of the most thoughtful players in golf.
We respect Blair's honesty, and it's hard to argue with anything he says in this mini-rant. Hopefully, he won't get the same Twitter blowback he got when he gave a perfectly fair review of Glen Abbey, the longtime Canadian Open venue, last year. And hopefully, he won't get in too much trouble with the PGA Tour.
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