"By any definition, that's appearance money."

Doug Ferguson takes a look at the blurring of appearance money lines on the PGA Tour, even after the tour had tried to strengthen their policies seven years ago.

"America is doing what we've done for 20 years, and there's nothing wrong with it," said Chubby Chandler of British-based International Sports Management, whose list of clients includes Els, Westwood, Rory McIlroy and two of the last three major champions in Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.

"Tournaments have to get players to commit early," Chandler said. "You can't sell tournaments on the hope a bunch of guys might enter on Friday night. It's just a way of getting players there. And they have to do something for it."

The Zurich Classic this week in New Orleans has one of its strongest fields in five years, helped by a series of "ambassadors" who have a relationship with the global insurance provider and are taking part in a charity campaign that goes beyond the tournament. Ben Crane and Justin Rose wear the Zurich logo. The others who are involved in the yearlong campaign are Camilo Villegas, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell and Rickie Fowler.

Of those four, only McDowell has played New Orleans previously, and that was five years ago.

What strikes me in deals like these or in packages where PGA Tour-managed events encourage extras like the buying of Golf Channel's on-site presence: at what point do the sponsors say, enough already!

The cost of sponsorship package is already hefty with big ad buys and healthy purses. Does there come a time when they decide the price of all the side bets is just too much?