"We've got to assume and prepare for some slippage, and prepare for some replacement there."

It seems Reuters convened some sort of sports summit and Commissioner Finchem appeared with his posse to spin things. He did reveal a few things worth noting...

"We've got to assume and prepare for some slippage, and prepare for some replacement there."

Finchem said the PGA had already held a wide range of discussions with companies about adding new sponsors or expanding existing deals if necessary.

Finchem said Toyota Motor Corp, the world's largest automaker, could be one candidate for a bigger marketing presence in U.S. golf, while others could come from industries that "have performed relatively well during the downturn".

Such sectors include energy, the environment and retail, and Finchem mentioned the world's largest retailer Wal-Mart may be one company that could broaden its role.

More interesting was this Reuters blog item from Robert Macmillan. He either doesn't understand the Commissioner's extraordinarily, painfully dry sense of humor or the Commish is living in a fantasy world when it comes to Tiger Woods:

If there is a silver lining, it’s that Tiger downtime means that other nascent players might come to the fore, perhaps making them tomorrow’s stars. To understand how the PGA views Woods in this respect, Finchem pointed out that President-elect Barack Obama *might* be the first person in a very long time to knock Tiger off his perch as the most-recognized American.

Might? Really, you think? For the sake of our country I hope so.