Jack Nicklaus has always been credited with nominating the Stonehaven Cup as a pseudo Grand Slam event in the 1960s and, perhaps understandably, Australian fans have taken that to heart.

But while Nicklaus, Gary Player and, to a lesser extent Arnold Palmer, brought the tournament great prestige 50 plus years ago, the truth of their trips to the antipodes was as much about loot as legacy.

All three were handsomely compensated for their regular appearances via a cut of club sales bearing their names, and while it would be unfair to suggest it was the only reason they came, it undoubtedly played a significant role.

That, however, doesn’t come close to meeting the informal criteria one might use to anoint a tournament ‘Major’. And there are dangers in continuing to do so.

The PGA Tour’s flagship event, THE PLAYERS, makes itself a bit of a laughing stock each year by continuing the ‘fifth major’ discussion, yet in truth it is a tournament with much greater claim to that status than our national championship.

In the same way that not every course needs to be The Old Course or Royal Melbourne, not every tournament needs to be as important as the ‘impregnable quadrilateral’.

“What we should want is for it to take its rightful place as one of the game’s oldest and most prestigious events. What Rory is suggesting might just see that eventuate and if it does that would be major.” – Rod Morri.

McIlroy’s comments last week were part of a broader discussion about what the currently tumultuous world of men’s professional golf might look like in coming years.

Like many before him, the Northern Irishman sees merit in a ‘world tour’ of sorts where the focus is on national titles.

Australia would – rightly – take its place among the more important of those were such a schedule to eventuate. But it would remain at least a rung down from the game’s four most important events, and that’s as it should be.

The list of winners engraved on the Stonehaven Cup is impressive and includes the names of some of the game’s greats. So, too, the Canadian and South African Opens.

But none of them are in the same league as the Masters, Open, U.S Open or PGA, and in reality never will be.

McIlroy had it right last week when his quote is read in full and in context.

“The Australian Open, for example, should almost be the fifth major,” is what he said. Neither Rory nor Nicklaus nor anybody else who knows anything about the game has ever seriously considered the Australian Open to be in the same league as the big four and we, as fans, shouldn’t want it to be.

What we should want is for it to take its rightful place as one of the game’s oldest and most prestigious events.

What Rory (and several others over decades) is suggesting might just see that eventuate and if it does that would be major.

With a small ‘m’.