AKRON, Ohio -- One tournament folds, another steps in to take its place.

It is not nearly that simple, but nonetheless quite remarkable.

Only a day after the Buick Open announced that it was ceasing operations -- and that General Motors was withdrawing its sponsorship from the popular Buick Invitational, too -- the PGA Tour announced a new tournament to take its place, the Greenbrier Classic.

Of course, all of this stuff was in the works for weeks and months behind the scenes, but it does point out again how fortunate PGA Tour players are these days, despite all the doom and gloom that envelops the world around them.

Just this year alone, the PGA Tour has seen the Ginn Co. bail on its sponsorship of a tournament, as did Stanford Financial, U.S. Bank, Wachovia/Wells Fargo and Buick twice.

SBS has stepped in to take the place of Mercedes-Benz at the season-opening event in Hawaii; tournaments such as the Bob Hope Classic and Quail Hollow Championship continue on despite corporate sponsors who no longer wish to be associated with the tournaments. And now the longest-running sponsor, Buick, steps away, and yet the tour turns it into a celebration by announcing a new venue, the Greenbrier, that is giddy about stepping in.

"What we've been saying for the last year and a half … we knew going into this downturn we were going to have some turnover in our schedule, and we've been working on creating options for different parts of the season,'' said PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem on Wednesday at Firestone Country Club, site of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

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The dwindling economy has affected the St. Jude Classic, which reduced its purse by $500,000.

And yet just a single tournament, the Memphis St. Jude Classic, where Stanford Financial was the title sponsor, has reduced its purse, by a total of $500,000.

Meanwhile, the European Tour is apparently set to take a big hit with rumblings that the Race to Dubai bonus pool of $10 million will be cut by $2.5 million, as will the prize money for the season-ending Dubai World Championship.

And the LPGA Tour has seen several sponsors bail, leaving just 10 domestic events on the 2010 schedule.

Other than a Fall Series event sponsored by Ginn and the opposite event to the British Open in Milwaukee sponsored by U.S. Bank, the PGA Tour schedule remains full. Although many people are taking pay cuts, losing jobs, seeing benefits cut, PGA Tour players have seen purses rise this year over 2008.

"We're just lucky to be playing in big tournaments for that kind of money,'' said England's Lee Westwood, who said he would not be surprised to see some purses reduced. "I can understand if people do that. We're all going through it. Why should the bigger companies and anybody in the world be any different, really.''

In the past, golfers were largely oblivious to the inner workings of their business. There were tournaments offering a lot of money, they showed up, and played.

But it is impossible not to be aware of the difficulties today. Many players have seen their endorsement deals reduced or eliminated. And every week there is talk of sponsor woes.

There will be issues going forward. No PGA Tour event can exist much longer without a title sponsor. The $7 million-plus price tag for operating a tournament today is simply too much for a local, nonprofit entity to raise. And that is simply the starting point.

The Bob Hope Classic will likely go on in 2010 without Chrysler's involvement. FBR's sponsorship of the tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz., is one of at least 10 deals that will expire after their events conclude in 2010.

What will happen to the tournament in Memphis, where FedEx stepped in to help out in the wake of Stanford Financial's troubles? Crowne Plaza is said to be wavering on its sponsorship at Colonial. Even Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament saw presenting sponsor Morgan Stanley pay for the privilege of not being in Columbus, Ohio; the company chose to keep a low profile after receiving $10 billion in TARP money.

There's been plenty of upheaval, but all in all, it could be worse.

And then there is this week to comfort those playing in the Bridgestone Invitational. The purse this year has been increased by $500,000 to $8.5 million. The winner will receive $1.4 million, a $50,000 raise over last year. And the last-place finisher -- there is no cut -- gets $40,000, or the equivalent of $10,000 per day.

Bathroom break

In the hectic moments between the conclusion of the British Open and the start of the four-hole playoff between Stewart Cink and Tom Watson, Cink had the presence of mind to use a portable restroom. Well, sort of.

After birdieing the 18th hole -- and then having to clear up a rules issue that had occurred at the 17th green when Cink had to replace his ball that had moved before he marked it -- Cink made his way to the fifth hole and then ducked into a bathroom as Watson walked up to the tee. And it had nothing to do with nerves.

"I was late going to the tee because I knew what I was up against with Tom Watson with the crowd pulling for him so much that I didn't want to be on the tee standing there when he walked up,'' Cink said. "I wanted to be the last on the tee, because if anything, I wanted him to hear some applause for me walking up there instead of the other way around.

"So I really didn't have to go to the restroom, but I decided to go anyway, just take a few extra seconds to go down there and then walk on the tee.''

And then.

"I'm getting old, so sometimes I don't know if I have to go to the bathroom or not,'' Cink, 36, said.

Cink made two birdies in the four-hole playoff to easily win the playoff and capture his first major championship.

A look at this week's venue

Firestone Country Club has a long history in the game. Opened in 1929, it first hosted the PGA Championship in 1960, leading to an annual PGA Tour event called the American Golf Classic, which was played annually through 1976 except during the years when the PGA Championship returned in 1966 and 1975.

The World Series of Golf began at Firestone in 1962, and for 14 years it brought together that year's winners of the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship for a two-round, 36-hole tournament that paid the winner $50,000.

In 1976, the tournament became a four-round, 72-hole event in which all participants had won at least one tournament in the previous 12 months. In 1999, the tournament became a World Golf Championship event, and has been played at Firestone every year except 2002, when it went to Sahalee in Washington state.

Firestone remains a stout test whose difficulty often depends on the firmness of the course -- and it's been wet and soft recently. It measures 7,400 yards and plays to par-70. Last year, Vijay Singh shot 270, 10 under par, but the year prior, Tiger Woods' winning total of 272 was the only score under par. Last year, only four holes played under par for the tournament.