One of the biggest dates in the golfing calendar is just days away, with The Players Championship kicking off at the iconic TPC Sawgrass this Thursday.
Often dubbed golf's 'fifth major', The Players is one of the most coveted prizes on offer to those competing, whilst also historically donning golf's strongest field. The 2023 edition though could well see it lose that title due to its LIV Golf omissions.
Following the formation of LIV last summer, those who have since chosen to join the Saudi-backed series have seen their PGA Tour membership suspended, meaning they of course miss out on this week's event in in Florida.
Amongst the names missing out is defending champion Cameron Smith, as well as the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and former winners Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. This has seemingly left The Players missing the key ingredient to what has made the event such a prestigious one.
The point was highlighted by former DP World Tour player and Sky Sports pundit Nick Dougherty, who believes the absence of Smith and Johnson in particular have left a hole in this year's tournament. He said: "There are not many players on LIV that I think the tournament misses, in terms of the impact they would have, but Smith is definitely one of them.
"The fact that he should be defending is a miss and it's a real shame. One of the reasons guys love winning majors is because they knew they had beaten all the best players in the game.
"That's usually the case at The Players and it won't be this time around, because there's no Smith, there's no DJ (Dustin Johnson) and there's a couple of other contenders missing too."
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Whilst Smith will not be at Sawgrass to defend his crown, the Australian star has joked that he could well turn up at the Florida course in the shape of a fan. Teasing the idea in an interview with GOLF.com , he commented: "I’m a little bit unsure you know? That’s where I live now so, I don’t know,
" I’ll definitely be watching on TV. I think it’s a great event to watch. I grew up my whole childhood watching the event and yeah, I’d love to get out there. I don’t know how it would be received but even getting out there and watching, walking around in the crowd might be pretty funny.”
