The below is all a hypothetical argument.  Frankly, a case could be made one way or the other for either tournament to be the fourth major.  There may even be others that could be considered.  But, I want to get a discussion going on what makes a major championship. 

So, I pose the question: why do you consider the four major championships as such?  Take a look over my argument and then share your thoughts.

The PGA Championship is billed as Glory's Last Shot.  It is an appropriate moniker for a tournament that is really nothing more than a World Golf Championship plus 20 PGA professionals and a cut - and 90-plus years of history.

The pedestrian venue for this year's championship, Hazeltine, is a perfect metaphor for how the PGA Championship is perceived. 

The only allure of the course is that it is long.  It is largely one-dimensional.  The greens are flat and players are not afraid to go past the pin with their approaches.  The course presents a ton of bunkers, but those are not particularly innovative.  In fact, they pale in comparison to the pot bunkers found on much of the Open Rota courses. 

The field is really good, but the other majors have a great field, too.  The slam on the Opens is that random players could get into the championship.  The Masters is the only time each year we see Charles Coody on television.  But the PGA Championship still shows its allegiance to its members by rewarding the thiry best finishers in their Professional Championship with spots in a major championship.

Tell me, what makes the PGA Championship special.  It abandoned its only true unique quality when it retired the match play format in 1957.  Then, it entered a horribly dark period filled with terrible venues and champions underserving of a seat at the table of all-time golf greats. 

Its purse is big, but nothing special.  Before the global real estate market went to hell, it was not even in the top five of richest tournaments in the world.

In fact, the richest tournament in the world now - thanks to Leisurecorp's mighty failure - is The Players Championship. 

Every spring, the PGA Tour tries to talk golf writers and fans into believing that The Players Championship is the fifth major, as though golf needs another major championship.  The Champions Tour has five and it has not raised the profile of the Tour on a week-to-week basis.  Perhaps, though, it may be worth entertaining the idea of not having five majors, but switching out one major for another.  Maybe it is time to make The Players Championship into the fourth major.

Before you dismiss my statement as nothing more than drivel, follow my logic here.

The Players Championship has a lot of things going for it that the PGA Championship simply does not.  As mentioned, it is the globe's richest tournament with a 2009 purse of $9.5 million.  There is a decent chance that it will eclipse $10 million next season.

Next, it is billed as - statistically speaking - the deepest field of the year.  The PGA Championship has a deep field that is defined by the Official World Golf Ranking.  The field for the Players Championship is arguably equal.  Even better, the Players Championship does not feature players who qualify from another tournament.  Thus, it skirts around the reward system for PGA professionals, past-their-prime champions, and fluke qualifiers to prevent them from getting into the field in the first place.

TPC Sawgrass is complex in ways that Hazeltine only wishes it could be.  The green complexes, though funky in places, are confusing and interesting.  Bunkering is not the only defense at Sawgrass' Stadium Course.  The course features compelling holes of varying lengths.  And it features the greatest gimmick hole ever produced.  The course for the Players has a guaranteed identity each year.  With future PGA Championship sites like Oakland Hills, maybe Quail Hollow, and surely Medinah, Glory's Last Shot cannot make that claim.

And for every Wayne Grady, Shaun Micheel, and Don January that the PGA Championship has produced, the Players Championship has answers.  How about Craig Perks?  Jodie Mudd is a good one.  Lest we forget Stephen Ames.  Arguably, looking at the 36 Players Championship winners, they easily rival any stretch of the same length for the PGA.

Perhaps most compelling of all about The Players is that TPC Sawgrass seems to be the only course on earth - other than Riviera - that confuses Tiger Woods.  Woods has his lowest career winning percentages on both of these courses.  Since he never plays Riviera during the regular season, Sawgrass is really the only opportunity to see Tiger Woods try to figure out a course that annually confounds him.  It is fun to watch Tiger think instead of stroll to victory.

Now, I'm not suggesting that we scrap the history of the PGA Championship.  Tiger can still have his five titles if he wins this weekend.  Jack and Walter Hagen can, too.  The one hit wonders at the PGA will not have their name stricken from golf's record book.  After all, the US and British Amateur Championships used to be considered majors.  We still remember and laud their rich history.  They just don't count as modern major championships.

The sport of golf evolves.  Things change.  Equipment changed everything before the USGA reigned it back in a little with the groove change.  The Tour changed everything with the all-exempt membership.  Perhaps it is time to evolve the perception of golf major championships, too.