As the PGA Tour campaigns to elevate The Players to major status, not everyone supports the idea. While analyst Brandel Chamblee has championed the idea, it has drawn sharp criticism from Phil Mickelson. Now, Greg Norman has joined the fight with some strong words mirroring what Lefty has said.

“Negative, mate. There are only 4 majors. And back in my day, before the TPC Championship, they were calling for the Australian Open to be the 5th. Just like tennis slams,” said Norman, not mincing words.

Norman’s stance is particularly compelling given his historic dominance at the event. In 1994, he didn’t just win The Players; he dismantled the course with a record-shattering 24-under 264, a mark that still stands today. The Australian opened the event with 63 and followed it up with 3 rounds of 67.

When asked if the Australian Open should be a retroactive major, he denied it.

He noted that giants like Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player played there every single year. Back then, the world viewed the Australian Open as the true fifth major championship. Nicklaus even crowned it with that title after his third Stonehaven Cup win in 1971. Commercial ties to equipment giants like Dunlop helped bring the very best players there. Those were the golden years of the Australian Open. That prestige has faded away slowly over the years.

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This viewpoint matches perfectly with what six-time major winner Phil Mickelson said.

“I’ve won it. It’s not,” Lefty noted.

Even Mickelson, who captured his lone Players title in 2007 after 13 starts, dismisses the event’s major status despite his own success there. He was 36 at the time of his win, and he held off young golfers. With a closing 69, Lefty finished at 11-under 277 to edge 27-year-old Sergio Garcia (66) by two strokes, and Sean O’Hair, who was 26 at the time, faded with a 76.

Mickelson also argues that a major cannot exclude big stars like Jon Rahm or Bryson DeChambeau. You cannot block four of the top 10 players just because they don’t play on the PGA Tour and claim to be the best. Mickelson thinks the PGA Tour is just trying to protect its own expensive business assets.

“I believe [David] Puig is top 10 in the world, as I believe Bryson [DeChambeau], [Jon] Rahm, and [Niemann] are too. You can’t prohibit four 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 [they] are slowly acquiring more,” said Mickelson.

The criticism extends beyond former winners, with figures like Lee Westwood and Dan Rapaport questioning the event’s field and American-centric focus.

What does the golf world think of the Players Championship being a fifth major?

Lee Westwood wondered why four of the five majors would stay in the United States. He thinks this local focus stops the game from growing in other parts of the world. Analyst Dan Rapaport supported Phil Mickelson’s argument, saying that no major can work without the likes of top LIV golfers Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau or DP World Tour stars.

Brandel Chamblee, however, remains a staunch proponent of elevating The Players to major status. He voiced his opinion clearly during the WM Phoenix Open.

“What constitutes a major championship? Of course, it’s history and tradition and reverence and all those things… When you look at the Players Championship—with all due respect to the other four major championships—it is the best field in golf.”

Despite all of this, Norman still views his 1994 victory as a top-three career achievement. Before the tournament, he told architect Pete Dye that he would “chew up” the difficult Sawgrass course, and he actually did it.