Brian Rolapp wants The PLAYERS Championship to receive the status of a major. However, Brandel Chamblee is against the idea. The Golf Channel analyst believes that the PGA Tour’s flagship event is bigger than the four premier events of golf. When Phil Mickelson heard this, he thought it was preposterous. Notably, Steve Elkington agrees with Lefty.

In response to Mickelson’s tweet, Elkington wrote, “Twice here it’s not.”

Elkington has won The PLAYERS Championship twice in his career, first time in 1991 and again in 1997. He also won the 1995 PGA Championship against Colin Montgomerie and Ernie Els. In total, the Australian legend has captured ten titles in his illustrious career. So he certainly knows what he’s talking about when he says that The PLAYERS Championship is not bigger than the majors.

Not that Mickelson didn’t have a clue about it himself. Even though he may be committed to LIV Golf at the moment, he holds an outstanding record on the PGA Tour as well. Lefty secured 45 PGA Tour wins, which included one PLAYERS Championship in 2007 and six majors. So his statement of “I’ve won it. It’s not,” might hold more value than Chamblee’s expertise as an analyst.

While Chamblee’s opinion may seem absurd, another expert provided a solution that might help take The PLAYERS Championship to the next level in a bid to turn it into the biggest major.

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Eamon Lynch told Golfweek, “One move that might possibly sway golf fans on the subject is a literal move: take The Players on the road. The Tour’s flagship event could go global on alternate years. One year at its traditional home of TPC Sawgrass, the next at Royal Melbourne or Durban Country Club or Koninklijke Haagsche (that’s not an ice cream brand, Brian). Let it be golf’s first truly global competition.”

With three of the majors being played in the United States and the Open Championship confined to the United Kingdom, this could be a great opportunity for the PGA Tour to take a major globally. Brian Rolapp can propose hosting The PLAYERS Champion at international venues in alternate years. That will give the event a lot more exposure and increase its value.

However, the PGA Tour will have to deal with Mickelson & Co. again if that does happen.

Phil Mickelson won’t hold back even if The PLAYERS Championship earns a major status

Phil Mickelson doesn’t shy away from promoting fellow LIV Golf pros. There was a time when he even debated that Joaquin Niemann was the best golfer in the world. Even when it comes to the majors, he always cheers for his peers.

So it doesn’t come as a surprise that he demanded a place for them during the 5th major debate. Mickelson was one of the first ones to question Rolapp & Co. when The PLAYERS Championship issue was raised.

He tweeted, “I believe Puig is top 10 in the world as I believe Bryson Rahm and Jaoco are too. You can’t prohibit 4 of the top 10 and be considered a major. That’s just reality. The PGA Tour only owns a few events on Tour, The Players is one, but are slowly acquiring more.”

“If they wanted to build value for their own asset, allowing LIV players would greatly increase the interest, exposure, and commercial value. However, the egos of many of the members won’t allow for that to happen and that continues to hold them back from growing the value of the SSG investment,” Mickelson added.

If The PLAYERS Championship does become a major, it would probably be wise to have LIV Golf pros on the field.