....HOW BAD IS IT?

The economy is so bad that the PGA Tour might be taking away courtesy cars next season!

That's not funny.  I mean, the status of free cars to professional golfers on a Tour in which nearly half the players earned $1 million last season has to be considered a bellweather for the rest of the country. 

Actually, if you think about it, it's true.  Doug Ferguson explains:

[S]ome PGA Tour events are trying to figure out transportation for players after learning over the weekend that Buick will not be providing courtesy cars to most tournaments next year.
 
“We’ve already started scrambling to try to approach local dealers or national suppliers to see if they’re interested,” said Clair Peterson, tournament director of the John Deere Classic. “The car industry as a whole is in a tough spot. We’ve already had one company tell us everything has been frozen in ‘09.”
 
Other tournaments that Buick will no longer supply include the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, the AT&T National in Washington and the Transitions Championship outside Tampa, Fla. The Shell Houston Open remains hopeful of keeping its Buick courtesy car deal.
 
The Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles had a deal with Nissan, its previous title sponsor, that expired last year. Tournament director Tom Pulchinski said he tried to arrange a deal with Buick and was turned down.
 
“The business model has changed,” Pulchinski said. “It’s definitely going to be an expense. We probably would provide cars, even if it’s a rental deal where we pick up the cars and foot the bill. We talked to Buick, but they could not swing it.”

Consider that General Motors lost about $2.5 billion in cash last three months and that the company announced that it would be suspending incentive payments to dealers that totaled approximately $300 million, this makes a lot of sense.  Providing courtesy cars is a pretty sizable expense for the Buick division.  Even as the official car of the PGA Tour, Buick cannot reasonably provide this service as it has its hand out to Washington for a bailout loan.

Furthermore, tournaments will likely have to take on some of these costs themselves in order to compete in the PGA Tour marketplace for the top talent.  The best players have come to expect courtesy cars - among other services - and will probably look to tournaments that preserve agreements for courtesy cars.

Of course, then, the additional tournament cost comes right out of the budget line item labeled "Donation to Charity."  Just as been talked about in various pieces, this is another indication that charity - the ultimate discretionary spending - is first to suffer in the sports economy.