Ranking the 5 Best Non-Majors on the PGA Tour Schedule

Major championships dominate the sport of golf today. You can't be considered a legend of the game unless you win multiple majors in your career, but the PGA Tour schedule is comprised of dozens of non-major tournaments that don't get enough shine.

Let's check out the best non-majors on the PGA Tour and rank them 1-5.

5. Arnold Palmer Invitational - Bay Hill Club and Lodge

Non-majors have become birdie bonanzas for the uber-talented players on the PGA Tour today. We've seen consistent winning scores better than 20 and 30 under par over the last few years, but that's not the case at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Bay Hill presents one of the toughest challenges for the best players in the world every year. Over the last five years, the average winning score at the API is just 8 under par. Add in the fact that the tournament is named after one of golf's greatest pioneers, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational cracks the top five on this list.

4. WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play - Austin Country Club

The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play is a unique tournament on the PGA Tour. Instead of competing in a stroke play format for four days, players get placed into a bracket and compete in one-on-one matches until there's one man standing. The event also takes place during March Madness, so it acts as golf's version of the NCAA Tournament.

It's always entertaining to watch the best golfers in the world go head to head, and the strategy is completely different than it is at a normal PGA Tour event.

3. The Memorial Tournament - Muirfield Village Golf Club

The Memorial Tournament presented by Workday has been one of the most beloved stops on the PGA Tour schedule for decades. The reasoning for that because the one and only Jack Nicklaus has his fingerprints all over this event.

The Golden Bear designed Muirfield Village Golf Club near his hometown in 1974, founded The Memorial in 1976, and won the tournament in 1977 and 1984. For years, Nicklaus has been the first one to congratulate the champion walking off the 18th green.

2. WM Phoenix Open - TPC Scottsdale

More tournaments in professional golf need to operate like the WM Phoenix Open.

Hundreds of thousands of fans flock to the grounds of TPC Scottsdale every year to throw the biggest party in golf. The tournament officials also set up a makeshift stadium around the par-3 16th hole that can hold more fans than Madison Square Garden. When a player makes a hole-in-one on the loudest hole in golf, fans go absolutely berserk and litter the green with half-empty beer cans.

There's a reason why so many PGA Tour pros love playing in this tournament every year.

1. The Players Championship - TPC Sawgrass

I mean, is there even a debate for the No. 1 spot on the list?

The Players Championship is known as the fifth major on the PGA Tour schedule. It features the largest purse on the schedule ($25 million 2023), a prestine, iconic golf course in TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course, and possibly the most famous hole on earth in the par-3 17th. The island green is the star of the show, but everything about this tournament is simply perfect.

If you ask any PGA Tour pro which non-major they'd want to win, they'd choose the Players Championship.