Before Deane Beman became commissioner of the PGA Tour, it bothered him that the Tour created and promoted the stars of the game but it has no official standing with golf’s four major championships, the biggest tournaments in the sport.
He was determined to create a 5th major, a tournament run by the Tour which would be the players’ championship. When he started the TPC he was also determined to build a course owned and operated by the players.
After three years at various locations, Beman moved the TPC to Ponte Vedra’s Sawgrass Country Club. When efforts by the Tour to buy Sawgrass failed, the Stadium Course, a course designed to not benefit any type of golfer, was built across the street in swamp land.
You’d need every club in the bag to succeed. The Stadium course opened in 1982.
Beman caught a lot of flak about his “5th Major” but, now, 41 years later The Players is mentioned in any conversation about golf’s top five events.
While longshots — none bigger than Craig Perks — have won a few Players, the game’s best have shined in their “major”.
