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At first glance, this week's inaugural Greenbrier Classic at the Old White Course in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., would seem
to be an entirely positive sign for the PGA Tour. In year one without Buick as a title sponsor, the Tour found corporate
backing for its tournament at San Diego's Torrey Pines (Farmers Insurance) and replaced the old Buick Open in Flint, Mich.,
with the Greenbrier.
Given the state of the economy, that's no small feat, and it protects the livelihoods of the Tour's rank-and-file types who
don't get into the majors and the World Golf Championship events. (Jim Furyk, fifth in the World Ranking, and Matt Kuchar,
24th, are the highest-ranked players in the Greenbrier field.) But with so much economic uncertainty, with Tiger Woods a shell
of his former self, and with the Tour set to begin negotiations on its new TV contract with CBS and NBC in 2011, you have to
wonder if Commissioner Tim Finchem hasn't simply postponed an inevitable contraction of both prize money and schedule. "I just
don't think golf will ever get back to where it was," journeyman Jay Williamson said "I think we've worn some of our sponsors
out, and I just don't think in this kind of economic environment we're going to attract the kind of money we did in the glory
days. I hope I'm wrong, but I just feel it."
The article was not well received by Tour brass, but the fact remains that having plugged the holes in late January (Torrey)
and July (Greenbrier), Finchem still has much to do. There are as yet no 2011 title sponsors for the Bob Hope, Hilton Head,
St. Jude, Reno-Tahoe and up to a half dozen other tournaments
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A Storm Is Brewing
