Will the Race to Dubai Divert Golfers from the PGA Tour?

We are all painfully aware of the complete economic meltdown we have experienced here in America over the past few months. 

At the end of the day, sports are a business and a big business at that. 

The credit crunch, combined with the looming recession we will likely face in the next year, will touch every corner of the business world, including sports.

Perhaps no single sport has the potential to be as detrimentally affected as the PGA Tour. 

If you sit down and look over the PGA Tour schedule or simply watch a PGA Tour event for a few hours, you will quickly notice that the vast majority of sponsors are financial institutions, some of whom have already collapsed or been acquired by other companies.

Although the economic crisis has come to a painful climax over the past few months, it has been an issue affecting much of the country for several years now, the result of which has been a halt in the growth of the game of golf. 

Golf in America experienced a tremendous boom in the late 90s and early 2000s, so it is not unexpected to see a slowdown on the heels of this massive expansion in the popularity of the game.

However, it is uncommon to see such a substantial slowdown in such a short period of time.

The number of Americans playing golf has remained stagnant for several years now. 

The number of golf courses being built in America has decreased by an incredible 70 percent since the peak of the game’s growth in 2000.

With the country heading into a recession, it is only practical to believe that the number of Americans playing the game will decrease and the dramatic decline in the number of golf courses being built will continue and even accelerate.

So what does this mean for the PGA Tour? 

Well, it means that several big-name players have already begun thinking about diversifying from the PGA Tour. 

Players such as Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas, Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Allenby, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, and even Phil Mickelson have all expressed interest in participating in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai.

The Race to Dubai is more or less the European Tour’s version of the FedEx Cup, minus the ridiculous format and point system.

The format of the Race to Dubai is simple and logical.  The top 60 players on the European Tour’s Order of Merit, otherwise known as the Money List, will compete in the year’s final event in Dubai.

The top 15 players in that event will share in a $15 million bonus pool, while the winner will take home nearly $2 million.

Players are required to compete in 12 European Tour events to gain full status on the European tour, enabling them to compete in the Race to Dubai. 

Playing in 12 European Tour events and making it into the top 60 in the order of Merit is not as large of a commitment as it first appears to be.

The four majors and three of the four World Golf Championships are recognized as events on the European Tour.  Six out of those seven events are played in the United States and are already attended by every top PGA Tour player.  

So, a commitment to participate in the Race to Dubai would consist of playing in only an additional five European Tour events.

Players such as Kim, Scott, Villegas and Mickelson, who are amongst those pondering the idea of taking part in the Race to Dubai, are currently participating in this week’s HSBC Championship in China, which is the first tournament in the 2009 Race to Dubai. 

Many players also participate in the Scottish Open, which typically takes place in the week preceding the British Open. 

These two tournaments combined with the four majors and three WGCs will leave only three additional European tournaments that players would have to participate in to gain their full status on the European Tour and the opportunity to participate in the Race to Dubai.

Obviously, Tiger Woods is a long way from lengthening his schedule in any way. 

However, Woods typically competes in the Dubai Desert Classic and has also spent some time in Dubai designing his first golf course. 

The interest Woods has already shown in Dubai makes it not at all unthinkable to believe that once Woods’ knee has fully recovered, he could also participate in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai. 

If you don’t already think so, you better believe that the European Tour’s Race to Dubai is a very real threat to the PGA Tour. 

The vision of Tiger Woods smiling in the Dubai desert with the backdrop of an ever expanding skyline while holding an oversized $2 million check is surely a vision that keeps PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem awake at night. 

Another thought that likely haunts Finchem’s dreams is the thought that the Race to Dubai could very well be more exciting than the FedEx Cup. 

The Race to Dubai’s format is simple, logical and offers the dramatic conclusion that the FedEx Cup currently does not.

The winner of the final event in Dubai wins the year-long race and takes home the $2 million check.

The ridiculous scenario of handing the FedEx Cup trophy to Vijay Singh while Mickelson, Villegas and Garcia are still battling it out for a meaningless Tour Championship will certainly not arise in the Race to Dubai. 

Like all businesses in America at the moment, the future of the PGA Tour is uncertain. 

Most PGA Tour sponsorships are locked up through the 2010 season; however, there is not much the tour can do when one of their sponsors goes out of business completely.  

There is also not much the PGA Tour can do if this recession spreads beyond 2010 and many of the financial institutions begin pulling the plug on their sponsorships.  

Financial institutions, who make up the majority of the tour’s sponsors, are trying to connect with the wealthier segments of the market that are characteristically associated with being fans of the PGA Tour.

If the US economy remains slow through the 2010 season, many financial institutions might have no choice but to discontinue their sponsorship of the PGA Tour, thus leaving very slim pickings for replacement sponsors.

Golf has survived wars, recessions, and even a great depression so it would be absurd to believe that the PGA Tour will somehow collapse in the face of the current economic crises.

However, it is not at all outlandish to believe that more and more players will begin to diversify from the PGA Tour with the first step being their participation in the Race to Dubai.