Fifth Major Watch, Final 2

Thanks to reader Steven T. for noticing this subtle, affirmative (or tongue in cheek?) "fifth major" reference in Doug Ferguson's third round game story.

Scott, the 2004 winner of golf's fifth major, shot 45 on the front nine and wound up with an 82.

Meanwhile Scott Michaux takes on the fifth major question:

It's the best tournament never to be a major.

Period.

The Players Championship has a serious inferiority complex which it needn't have. It's a great event on a thrilling golf course with a terrific field. Why that can't be good enough for the folks at the PGA Tour is pitiable story of jealousy and ego.

"We already think it's No. 1," said tour commissioner Tim Finchem, the primary "fifth major" lobbyist.

It's even tried to push-promote the notion of five majors as being a natural number by declaring a full handful on its senior circuit.

And...

It kills Finchem that he can't just declare his Players to be a major and make it stick. While the designation of major status might have been a fluid concept at one point, the television era and universal acceptance made the current four events established precedent long before the Sawgrass Stadium Course was ever built.

Finchem has finally pushed his Masters envy to the extreme starting in 2007. He's given the tournament its own spring month, reduced commercial interruption on television to four minutes per hour, spread the coverage into China, approved plans for a more traditional clubhouse and trimmed the official name to a brand-hammering title - The Players.

If that's not enough, Finchem made sure he mentioned the TPC's "champions dinner" on Tuesday and has proved even more adept than Augusta National Golf Club at creating a vocabulary all its own. (See "limited commercial inventory presentation.")