PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Longtime NBC Sports personality Dan Hicks has commentated at over 30 Players Championships.
"I remember the first time I came here, as a little cub reporter with NBC Sports. My first Players Championship was in 1993, and I've covered every single one since, and it's only grown in stature," said Hicks.
Hicks has witnessed some of the most memorable moments and considers the tournament one of the best in the world.
"I know there's been a lot of talk about whether it deserves to be a fifth major, this or that. I think on its own, it's one of the great championships in the history of golf. Couldn't have said that maybe all those years ago when it was first kind of building some tradition. Now, it's got plenty of history," said Hicks.
The Players Championship is known as golf's honorary fifth major and a tournament with the strongest field. However, with several players going to LIV Golf, it is bringing up the question of whether the tournament still meets those high standards.
"I think that anybody in their right mind knows that not all of the greatest players are here now. Because that's where we are in this world of golf right now. And I think it is sad that we don't have Cam Smith here, who won this championship. We don't have Jon Rahm and some of the other players who went to LIV," said Hicks. "But I think by Sunday, when somebody's trying to close this out, I don't think anybody's thinking about that going in. It's a story. It's a headline, and I think it's probably worth talking about. But when you're coming back, when you're coming down the stretch on Sunday, and we have a chance to crown a Players champion, we're not going to be thinking about who's not here. Somebody is going to have a career-defining Sunday."