Golf sponsorships are in serious trouble. Ben Curtis, the 2003 British Open champion, is without his NFL clothing deal. One player was asked to remove a logo from his shirt, reports
Golf
World. The corporation would still pay him, but like Chrysler at the recent Bob Hope Classic, this particular company didn't want its shareholders to know it was "investing" in golf. Insiders have
a solution: to counter the perception that golf is a game of corporate excess, take $1 million off each purse, and donate it back to the sponsor of that particular event. Then take another 5%, and
kick it in to all the charities that will be hit hardest, Consider it a golf stimulus package. --Joan Voight
