Perry Wins Packed FBR

Filed in archive Golf News on February 2, 2009

Courtesy: Charlotte Observer

Kenny Perry outlasted the field (and Charlie Hoffman in a playoff) on Sunday to win again at the ripe old age of 48. That is quite a feat, no question.

However, the field he outlasted lacked the top players in the game; those who simply didn't bother to play the FBR Open or missed the cut - guys like Mickelson, Weir, Kim and a whole of other big names.

Never mind, a win's a win. And the whole experience makes Jason Sobel over at ESPN Sports glow.

He thinks other tournaments need to copy the FBR's methods for packing in the fans. He argues the FBR is the antidote to the "financial downturn".

I'm afraid Mr. Sobel has no idea how this "financial downturn" is going to play out.

Home prices continue to plummet right across the U.S. Ironically, they are especially dire in Arizona, particularly Scottsdale where the FBR is held and which is home to 16 PGA Tour pros, as Sobel points out.

Those pros have endured plunging property values along with everyone else to the tune of nearly 20 percent in Arizona - just for 2008 - and they show no signs of bottoming out.

New home sales are non-existent, forcing plenty of construction firms to lay off employees or simply close the doors.

Unless you're from another planet, I don't need to tell you how many jobs were lost in the U.S. last year - more than 2 million - or how many companies are axing their workforces on a daily basis.

What this means to communities like Scottsdale is brutal. A chain reaction occurs: downturn leads to unemployment, reduced tax revenues, increased municipal debt, decreased services, local businesses closing, more unemployment, more tax revenue lost and so forth.

The chain reaction becomes a vicious circle.

Hip event marketing will not work in the face of this.

Sobel is correct when he says if the "downturn" continues, the PGA Tour will suffer right along with everyone else.

Where he's unfortunately wrong is in the "if"; the "downturn" is a depression and it will continue.

Batten down the hatches. There's a shit-storm a'comin'.