Major champ accuses Brandel Chamblee of "bait" over Players Championship claim

LIV Golf's Graeme McDowell accused Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee of "baiting" after the former PGA Tour winner claimed The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass "stands alone" above the four men's majors. 

Chamblee made the audacious claim during the coverage of the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale after the tournament organisers shared a promotional video trying to drum up interest in next month's championship.

The 30-second clip - featuring the likes of Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Tiger Woods - came with the tagline "March is going to be major".

It sparked a wild debate on social media over whether it is deserving of major status. 

"The fact that this is even a conversation with the obvious field strength issues is hilarious," McDowell said on X after Phil Mickelson chimed in with his two cents. 

"I've won it," Mickelson said. "It's not."

Continued the 2010 U.S. Open champion: "Phil is in the privileged position to make an educated comment and shouldn't require much further debate. Brandel's comment is bait and we all take it."

McDowell added: "And just a further note, I think the Players is a wonderful tournament and one of the greatest finishes in golf, but to be the fifth major they have to open their doors to the global best. 

"Been lucky to have played well there a couple of times and I love it."

What did Brandel Chamblee say?

Chamblee, no stranger to stirring the pot, discussed The Players alongside Damon Hack and Paige Mackenzie live on the Golf Channel. 

"What constitutes a major championship?" Chamblee asked.

He continued: "Of course, it's history and tradition and reverence and all those things, but at the core, these are hard events to win. 

"They're meant to be harder events to win because of the pressure, because of the setup, because everything is right on that line. 

"So, they've got to be hard events to win, they've got to be great fields, they've got to produce indelible champions and indelible moments

"When you look at the Players Championship — with all due respect to the other four major championships — it is the best field in golf. It is the deepest field in golf. 

"By virtue of the fact that in its 50-year history, only one player has managed to successfully defend it, I would argue that it is the hardest major championship to win. 

"All the others have had far surpassing numbers of those successfully defending it

"Especially since it moved to TPC Sawgrass, which in my estimation, save for one hole, is perhaps, arguably the best golf course that they play a major championship on from a shot-value perspective. 

"You can talk about aesthetics all you want, risk, reward holes, certainly, but from a shot value standpoint, you cannot touch TPC Sawgrass.

"So, in every single way that a metric could be used to measure whether something is a major, the Players, to me, stands alone and above the other four major championships as not just a major. 

"It is, in my estimation, the best major."

Watch the clip here: