Behind The Music

But the sagging economy is already being felt by tournaments on next year's West Coast swing. Officials for the Sony Open in Hawaii report having lost a half-dozen longtime corporate supporters, and the title sponsor of the FBR Open, a financial-services company, has already made it known that it will be entertaining less during tournament week in Scottsdale, Ariz. The biggest effect of this downsizing will be on the charities supported by the individual tournaments, since their money comes out of the net proceeds, which are propped up by corporate schmoozing.

The players are already coming face-to-face with the harsh realities of the current financial climate. "Our economy is sound—it's everybody else who's hurting," says Love. "I played in the pro-am this week with a car dealer and an investment banker. They're feeling the pain. I mean, I have 10 buddies who worked at Lehman Brothers. Jeez, we have it made compared with those guys. My wife asked me why I was playing all six Fall Series events. It's because the money's out there, but you have to go get it."

Love is fifth on the alltime money list, with more than $36 million, and lives pretty large, but thinking ahead to next year, he says, "I'm definitely looking to cut back. The easy way to do that is the [private] plane. Right now guys are spending $200,000, $300,000 a year to $1 million--plus. It's definitely a luxury."

Some players have already begun to downsize, according to Ed Lynch, the player liaison for Sentient Jet, the official private jet company of the Tour. "We've seen players start to change their habits a little," Lynch says. "If they make the cut, they fly private on the way home; if they miss the cut, they fly commercial. Everybody's being cautious about their spending."

Prize money may be insulated from the downturn, but that's not the case in the endorsement market, where the climate is quickly changing. Says David Winkle, an agent at Hambric Sports Management, "A month ago we were closing in on a deal with a major automobile manufacturer for one of our players. When the stock market began declining sharply, everything stopped. The company went from putting it on the back burner to totally pulling the plug in a matter of weeks."

THE EASY money from equipment deals, long taken for granted by the players, is also beginning to dry up, or at least that's the word on the practice tee. (The manufacturers love free publicity, but it is a measure of their current jitteriness that reps from Nike and Titleist declined to comment for this article.) The rich will always get richer—Anthony Kim is the biggest free agent this off-season, and Nike is expected to break the bank to re-sign him—but members of the Tour's middle class are a lot more expendable. "The journeyman pros are likely to get squeezed," says Brad Buffoni, an agent at SFX Sports, which manages three dozen Tour players. "I think the days are gone when having a PGA Tour card meant someone would automatically give you a silly amount of money. The basic tenets of sports marketing need to matter more now. Results, personality, the whole package must be there."

For all these rumblings, Vegas was a reminder that the Tour can present an artistic and commercial success even in the toughest times. The local housing market has been hit hard, but corporate entertaining increased 10% over last year, and gate attendance was up a whopping 50%, thanks mostly to the tireless promotional efforts of Timberlake and his presence during tournament week. He was the star of the Wednesday pro-am, clowning with his friend Ellen DeGeneres and eliciting squeals from the large gallery, which skewed young and female. Afterward, Timberlake said it was his "mission" to persuade more of his A-list pals to play in the years ahead. He was back on the property last Saturday afternoon for a clinic alongside Butch Harmon, conducted at a packed range in front of oodles of Shriners patients and First Tee kids who had been bused in for the occasion. Fred Couples dropped by to donate his time and expertise, a nice gesture from a superstar who probably would have preferred to rest his aching back.

ON SUNDAY the fans were treated to a lively birdie binge by the leaders, and the tournament got a nice winner in Marc Turnesa (box, G8). Timberlake was on hand to present the trophy, which also came with $738,000. Everyone was all smiles, and for a minute it was easy to believe the good times would never end. As long as Tiger Woods gets healthy and stays hungry, there is no doubt that the Tour will survive this downturn, and it may even prosper, as Finchem hopes. But the age of excess is already over, even if the players are only beginning to realize it.

"Our job is no longer simply about hitting golf shots," says Tom Pernice, a 23-year veteran. "We need to do everything we can as players to help these companies maximize their investment in the Tour. That means in the pro-am we have to engage their clients and their guests. It means doing the little things, like stopping by corporate tents to shake hands or volunteering for clinics. It's going to take a different mind-set from all of us, especially from the younger guys."

As Pernice left Vegas, he was looking ahead to a players' meeting at this week's Frys.com Open. "You can guess what is going to be the Number 1 topic," he said.