Jack Nicklaus, who would know about such things, said just last week that a major championship is a complete examination that thoroughly challenges a player’s shot-making skills and his physical and mental makeup. THE PLAYERS Championship, which begins Thursday at the respected PGA TOUR retreat known as the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, certainly fits that description.

The Stadium Course, designed by Pete Dye and refined through the years, is a ballpark that doesn’t play favorites.

“For the most part, depending on the conditions, the golf course still lends itself to a large variety of players being able to do well and possibly win the golf tournament,” says Scott Verplank of the 7,093-yard par-72 layout that hosts the TOUR’s premiere event for the 25th time in 33 years. “You know, we don't get that very many weeks anymore.”

“The one great thing about the TPC is anybody can win,” Lee Westwood adds. “A short hitter could win it or a long hitter can win it. It’s one of those golf courses, a bit like Riviera, that’s … demanding without sticking hundreds of yards on it. It tests every aspect of your game.”

Whether the PLAYERS is deigned a major or not is immaterial. It plays like one. And with at least $8 million on the table, it pays like one, too.

Last year: After a number of rain-plagued days and amid a windy final round played on Monday at TPC Sawgrass, local favorite Fred Funk used his guile, course knowledge and his accuracy to close with a second straight 71 and a 269 total to beat Tom Lehman, Luke Donald and Scott Verplank by one stroke. Funk, at age 48, became the oldest winner of THE PLAYERS Championship.

How he did it: By being his punctilious self. Though he ranked 80th in driving distance, the TOUR’s straightest driver year-in and year-out led the field in driving accuracy with an 85.7 percent success rate. That effort allowed Funk to hit 80 percent of his greens in regulation, also best in the field. Any questions on how to play Sawgrass?

Strange but true: Not only has there never been a repeat winner of THE PLAYERS Championship, but only six players have finished in the top 10 the year after winning: Adam Scott, Hal Sutton, Fred Couples, Tom Kite, Mark McCumber and Nicklaus.

True but not necessarily strange: Phil Mickelson is ranked 102nd in final round scoring average (72.00). The only two times he failed to rank in the top 100 on TOUR in that category were 2003 and 1999 -- his two winless seasons since 1993, his first full year as a pro.

If the course could talk: Don’t even think about pulling out all that muscle-bound stuff. Shot-making impresses me, and you’ll do fine as long as you don’t lose your cool on the final three holes.

Worth knowing:

• After missing the cut at the Ford Championship at Doral, Jim Furyk spent the week of the Honda Classic working out the final kinks in the development of his new Srixon irons, and he put them in the bag at the Bay Hill Invitational.

• Tiger Woods has made the cut in all nine appearances at THE PLAYERS Championship, but here’s one place he doesn’t own a cut record. That belongs to Brad Faxon, who made his 13th straight last year and set a record he previous shared with Bernhard Langer and Kite.

• Chad Campbell, with three top-5s, including a win at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, is undoubtedly off to a fast start -- faster than ever, in fact. He has yet to miss a cut in eight events, by far his best effort in five full seasons. His best previous early-season effort came in 2002, when he made the cut in his first three events.

• Sometimes a change is not for the better. Ernie Els put a new Odyssey putter in his bag at the Bay Hill Invitational, but while he ranked 16th in total putting at Bay Hill, he was a distant 55th in putts per green in regulation with a 1.825 average. He’d come into the week averaging 1.745 putts per green.

• Sean O’Hair’s debut at the Bay Hill Invitational was cut short after an opening 76. He played the round with a stiff neck after sleeping awkwardly on the eve of the tournament. Departing the grounds Thursday wearing a neck brace, O’Hair wasn’t fit enough to return for the second round.

• Charles Howell III, in an attempt to shore up his weakest area, has enlisted the help of teacher Brian Mogg, whose instruction, especially with the putter, has helped turn Bart Bryant into a force in recent years.

TOUR Insider’s strength of field index: If it isn’t perfect, it’s close: 9.7.

TI’s power ranking for THE PLAYERS Championship: 1. David Toms, 2. Luke Donald, 3. Chad Campbell, 4. Davis Love, 5. Padraig Harrington.

Parting shot: “Maybe I just look boring on the golf course.” -- Rod Pampling, winner of the Bay Hill Invitational, in discussing why he’s considered a one-dimensional player in some circles.