McIlroy: Players Championship ‘amazing’ but 4 majors plenty

Pebble Beach, California– Rory McIlroyThe two-time winner of The Players Championship believes the PGA Tour’s major event is one of the best tournaments in the world – not just the fifth major.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday ahead of this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, McIlroy was asked where the players stood with the other majors (the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open) after completing the career Grand Slam by capturing the green jacket at the Masters last season.

“Look, I’d rather have seven majors than five, it feels great,” McIlroy said. “I think the Players is one of the best golf tournaments in the world. I don’t think anybody disputes that or debates that. I think from a player standpoint, it’s amazing. I think from an on-site fan experience, it’s amazing. It’s an amazing golf course, location [and] venue.

“But I’m a traditionalist. I’m a historian of sports. We have four major championships. You know, if you want to see what five major championships look like, look at the women’s game. I don’t know how good it is [gone] For them.”

The LPGA includes five majors on its schedule each season: the Chevron Championship, the U.S. Women’s Open, the Women’s PGA Championship, the Amundi Evian Championship and the Women’s Open.

McIlroy believes that competing for the four traditional major championships is enough for the men’s professional game.

“But it’s the players – it doesn’t need to be anything else,” said McIlroy, who beat JJ Spawn In a three-hole aggregate playoff among last year’s players. “As I would say it has more of an identity than the PGA Championship at this point. So from an identity standpoint, I think the players have achieved that. It’s an amazing tournament in itself, and I don’t think it’s being categorized [as] “Having or not having a major makes it more or less.”

As far as the PGA Championship is concerned, McIlroy believes the tournament needs to be moved back to August as the final major, when it was each season’s “last shot at glory.” It is currently played in May as the second major of the season.

The debate about whether the Players should consider a fifth major has heated up again in recent weeks after the PGA Tour launched a trailer ahead of next month’s event that included the motto “March is going to be a major.”

LIV Golf League Captain Phil Mickelson2007 Players Championship winner, pushed back, writing on my ex account: “I won it. It’s not like that.”

The Players has long been considered one of the toughest tournaments to win due to its deep field – World No. 1 Scotty Scheffler In the event’s 51-year history, the only back-to-back champions are in 2023 and 2024.

Mickelson argued on the X that since LIV golf stars like Bryson DeChambeau And john rahm They are not allowed to compete, the PGA Tour can no longer make that argument.

“I’m still very proud of winning that tournament twice, as I’m sure all the other champions are,” McIlroy said. “I think it stands on its own without the label.”