Brandel Chamblee made a bold claim about the state of the players

The Players Championship occupies a curious place in golf’s rankings.

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 among them. It also has a host course, TPC Sawgrass, which is consistently ranked among the best in the country.

But try as they might on tour, Players have never been able to rise to the top tier of professional golf events. With the annual majors – the Masters, the US Open, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship – dominating the sports calendar, Players have been playing second fiddle (or rather, fifth).

That’s not to say the powers that be in Ponte Vedra haven’t done everything they can to change that narrative. Each year that The Players Championship goes on, the general debate about its greater merit grows. This year is no different. With the tournament just around the corner, the Tour has released a provocative new tagline in another attempt to promote its flagship event.

And it seems that those inside the global home are not alone in pushing that message.

On a live show at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Saturday, commentator Brandel Chamblee made a bold announcement about the state of the players.

“What constitutes a great tournament?” Chamblee said. “Of course, history and tradition and respect and all those things. But at the core, these are tough events to win. They’re meant to be tough events to win because of the pressure, because of the set-up – because everything is right on that line. They’ve got to be tough events to win, they’ve got to have good fields, and they’ve got to produce indelible champions.”

There is little to argue with any of that. The players often bring the drama on Sunday afternoons, and with water placed on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes, TPC Sawgrass boasts one of the most impressive closing stages in professional golf.

But Chamblee’s fitness issue was far from over.

“If you look at the Players Championship – with respect to all the other four majors – it’s the best course in golf,” he continued. “It’s a deep golf course, and because in its 50-year history, only one player has successfully defended it, I would argue that it’s a very difficult major tournament to win.

“Especially since it moved to TPC Sawgrass, which I rate as – save one hole – the best golf course where they play a major tournament from a shot value standpoint. You can talk all you want about beauty, risk-rewarding holes for sure, but from a shot value standpoint, you can’t touch TPC Sawgrass.”

Then came the line that set the internet on fire.

“So, in every metric that can be used to measure whether something is great, The Players, to me, stands alone and above the other four major leagues – not just the major,” Chamblee said. “In my estimation, it’s the biggest.”

Wow.

It’s not just the Players that matter – it’s them best big? To call it a hot take would be an understatement.

Chamblee has long been a polarizing figure in his role as a golf commentator, and this idea will add fuel to that fire. Based on the conversation so far, however, it appears that few — if any — outside the walls of the PGA Tour agree with him.