It’s not one of the four majors (despite the PGA Tour’s constant drumbeat to make it the fifth), but The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach just south of Jacksonville, Florida is my favorite golf tournament of the year. This year’s edition starts today.

This is the 35th Players Championship, which bounced around for its first eight years before settling at Pete Dye’s legendary Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in 1982. Not only is the Stadium Course a great modern layout (Jay Flemma’s excellent review is here), the Tour has continually renovated and improved the course over the years so that it has matured into one of the best courses that the Tour plays each year. Adding to the fun is the fact that The Players usually has the best field of any tournament of the golf season and this year is no exception — every one of the top 25 in the World Golf Rankings is playing with the exception of the Tiger Woods, who is convalescing from recent knee surgery. Not surprisingly, from the standpoint of most players, winning The Players is at least as prestigious as winning the PGA Championship, though still not as important as winning the other three majors.

So, a great field competing over one of modern golf design’s most interesting courses almost assures good entertainment — that’s why this is my favorite tournament. Add in that the 17th hole island par-3 is arguably the most creative (and highly controversial) hole in the backstretch of any Tour event is a virtual guarantee for high drama come Sunday afternoon. TV times for Thursday and Friday are noon-6 p.m. (CDT) on the Golf Channel, and 1-6 p.m. (CDT) Saturday and Sunday on NBC.