A Matter of Choice

For both O'Hair (left) and Woods, the Players' strength of field promotes its fifth-major bid. Photos: J.D. Cuban/Matthew Harris

Flesch is clearly onto something. Tournament golf is a pressure-packed milieu. But a major makes your heart race faster and your palms sweat more. It simply "feels" different. For just about everyone, there is a tournament that induces similar emotions and extra nervousness, and to win that event represents an accomplishment nearly as satisfying.

For many, the choice is simply parochial. Just as Ogilvy, Scott and Stuart Appleby confer a personal seal on the Australian Open, no tournament means more to Canada's Mike Weir than the Canadian Open. England's Lee Westwood gears up with equal zeal for a major or the BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event on the European Tour. Meanwhile, Ian Poulter points his non-major schedule towards the Omega European Masters.

Not surprisingly, the issue is more clear-cut among American-born players, with many giving the nod to the event at PGA Tour headquarters. Still, heartstrings pulled others to different venues, just as they did players from a previous generation. Jack Nicklaus said that one of his greatest accomplishments in golf was winning his own Memorial Tournament in 1977, and Tom Watson always has been partial to the BMW Championship -- formerly the Western Open -- because it is where he won his first PGA Tour title (in '74) and, he says, "because at some point the Western Open was talked about by great players like it was a major championship."

NBC analyst Johnny Miller, a two-time major champion, says the Players deserves its due because of the golf course and all the pomp and what is pumped into the tournament, but he also knows how powerful the pull from home can be.

"For me, to win at Pebble Beach was everything. That was always my home course, per se," Miller says. "You always want to win where you live. That becomes a mini-major for anybody, I don't care who you are, because I think there's more emotion that goes into it, and that leads to more pressure because of the importance you place on it. I also think that winning on great courses carries a lot of weight. I think that's important to anyone. Look at the field at Riviera this year. Look at Congressional ... courses that have mojo. Guys know where winning would be meaningful to their careers."

Chad Campbell is among the latter class of players. The Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial is the most important event for him, followed closely by the Northern Trust Open at Riviera CC and then the Players. In all three cases, he says, the golf course was the determining factor.

In the former group you have men such as Verplank; Ben Curtis, an Ohio native who favors the Memorial; Cliff Kresge, who lives near Orlando and covets the Arnold Palmer Invitational; and Billy Andrade, who lists stops in Atlanta (AT&T Classic or Tour Championship), Boston (Deutsche Bank Championship) and Hartford (Travelers Championship) at the top because of residence considerations. "I'd add the Rhode Island Open, too, if I could," he says with a grin. "Now, ask me which is the hardest to win, and you have to say the Players."

Says Flesch: "The Players, no doubt, has the best field in the world. It has a better field than any of the majors, in fact. I think that has to go a long way in anyone's book when you talk about important tournaments."

It definitely goes a long way with the world's No. 1 player. "Is the fifth major my fifth major?" Woods said last month, repeating the question as he mulled over a response. "I think I would have to say yes because it has the best field. I think that's the biggest factor. It matters who you beat."

Woods, who nonetheless will skip next week's Players as he rehabilitates his surgically repaired left knee, admitted he was voting solely with his head. Restricting the question to pure practicality makes the answer rather obvious. But when it comes to gut-check factors, many players can't help but admit that there are weightier matters than big paychecks, FedEx Cup points and World Ranking points.