Will Anyone Be Shocked if the Buick Open Clunks Out For Good?

Will anyone really be surprised if the 51-year-old Buick Open ceases to exist after this week?

GM has just recently emerged from bankruptcy. Although the company still carries the name ‘General Motors’, it could be referred to as "Barak Obama Motors" or "American Taxpayer General Motors"; the government, hence the US taxpayer, now more or less owns the company.

More concerning than that is the fact that even though the government and American taxpayers have spent billions of dollars to bail out General Motors, there's no guarantee that the company, along with virtually the entire American auto industry, won't completely collapse in the coming years.

The unemployment rate in Flint, Michigan is over 25 percent—that’s Great Depression-like numbers.

The grandstands around the golf course look more like those seen at little league baseball fields than what you'd expected at a PGA Tour event that's been around for 51 years.

The corporate hospitality tents look more like those that your children may pitch in the backyard during their summer holidays than those massive, glassed-in, air-conditioned, fully-catered tents that tournaments rely on for a large percentage of their income.

As you sit back and watch professional golfers compete week-in and week-out on some of the most beautiful golf courses in the world, it may look as if everything is peachy on television.

But the fact of the matter is that we are in the midst of an unprecedented financial crisis and the PGA Tour isn't immune to this difficult situation.

Five tournaments are in very serious danger of disappearing over the next two years. 

Furthermore, unless something miraculous happens in the coming months, the PGA Tour will be forced to pick up the tab at both the Bob Hope Classic and the St. Jude Classic next year due to the financial difficulties of Chrysler and Stanford.

What's surprising to many, however, is that the PGA Tour doesn’t seem interested in picking up the tab for the Buick Open in order to keep the long-standing event on the schedule.

But then again, if you were in Tim Finchem's shoes, would you really be prepared to invest a large amount of the tour's money in an area of the country that has a 25 percent unemployment rate and relies on a dying auto industry for their survival?

In this difficult economy, things are changing faster than ever.

Brand name companies that have been around for a hundred years are closing their doors.

Main Street looks like an episode of History Channel’s new series ‘Life After Humans’.

Men in suits and ties are heading to jail faster than gang members from Compton.

The PGA Tour is adapting, just like everyone else. It’s almost a certainty that some tournaments will be lost in the coming years, and those that remain on the schedule might do so under a completely different name, such as The Quail Hollow Open.

The Buick Open will more than likely be lost forever after this week, and not even the tour’s own personal economic stimulus package—Tiger Woods—will be able to save this one.

But life goes on, and just like everyone else, the PGA Tour will make adjustments and move forward.