Looks like the down economy has struck the golf world yet again.

This time, the British Masters has been dropped from this years European Tour after they were unable to secure a new title sponsor.  Quinn Insurance’s sponsorship ran out and no replacement could be found for the tournament.

The PGA and LPGA tours are not immune to the effects of reduced corporate spending.  U.S. Bank has dropped its sponsorship of the tour stop in Milwaukee, putting that tournament in serious jeopardy.  The LPGA has already begun lobbying hard for Anheuser-Busch to renew it’s deal with the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill.  The most current tournament at Kingsmill ended Sunday.

While John Daly still has 4 months remaining on his PGA Tour suspension, he is starting to get his game back on the European Tour.

Daly, who had tied for 31st at the Spanish Open last week, finished tied for 2nd at this weeks BMW Italian Open.  Daly shot at 31 on the back nine Sunday, with birdies on 11, 14, 16, and 17, in route to a 5-under 66.  It marked the 5th consecutive round in which Daly broke 70.

Daly has lost about 50 pounds and perhaps has matured since undergoing gastric band surgery in February.  When he finished second to Tiger Woods in the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship in San Fransisco, Daly drove to Las Vegas and lost $1 million gambling in just 30 minutes.

Here’s an interesting article I found regarding the ban of smoking on golf courses. If you are like me, you like to have a nice cigar while playing golf with the fellas.  I’d be a little disappointed if courses banned smoking on the course.

Now, I can understand the health concerns behind the bans that certain cities and states have on smoking in restaurants and other buildings.  It’s hard to escape large amounts of second hand smoke when you are crammed in a building with other people.  However, it’s very hard to suck in second hand smoke while outside.  So what is the health concern that courses will hang their hat on if they attempt to ban smoking?  Who knows.

All I know is that I would limit the courses that I play if any of my favorites decided to ban smoking.  I find it best to protest with my wallet.

What about you?  Do you think courses should ban smoking?  Would you stop playing at a course if they banned smoking?

Due to the economic climate, the 2009 Skins Game has been postponed.  The Thanksgiving weekend tradition for nearly 3 decades, was postponed by sponsors.  IMG, which manages the Skins Game, had been negotiating a contract extension with LG, when the Korean based electronics maker decided not to renew the contract.

IMG would like to see the Skins Game return in 2010, but without a title sponsor and declining ratings over the last few years, it seems unlikely that the all-star event will return.

While the PGA Tour and its tournaments have donated over $1 billion to charity in the last 70 years, David Toms wonders how high that number would be if it counted what the players do separate of the PGA Tour.  For example, the figure doesn’t include the millions the Tiger Woods Foundation has contributed to scholarships and grants or Phil Mickleson’s Start Smart or Birdies for the Brave programs.

That is going to change.

Commissioner Tim Finchem announced a plan Tuesday to highlight what golfers do for charity and get more tournaments, sponsors, volunteers and fans more involved so the tour can do even more.  The campaign will be called “Together, Anything is Possible” and will be launched in 2010.

The most visible part will be letting fans know what players are doing through different charities.  The Tour’s website will enable fans to see which players support which charities.  The thought is that this will drive fans to become more involved with charities supported by their favorite players or find out which players support their favorite charity.

Another key piece will be bringing tournaments, sponsors and charities together to learn different ways to raise money.

Finchem has said that the campaign has nothing to do with criticism from Rep. Barney Frank and Senator John Kerry over title sponsorship of golf tournaments.

The 36th annual Players Championship kicks off this week at TPC Sawgrass.  The top ten players in the world are all scheduled to be at this weeks tournament.

The TPC Sawgrass is typically referred to as the unofficial 5th major.  As such, it has a bit more at stake compared to other tournaments.  The winner gets 600 FedEx Cup points.  Only 5 events on tour offer that many points to the champion.  The other 4 are the Masters, the US Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship.

Despite the points that are on the line, 3 of Europe’s biggest stars have decided to skip the event.  Ryder Cup stars Lee Westwood  and Miguel Angel Jiminez are taking some time off and Alvaro Quiros has opted to play in the Italian Open instead.

The British Open will return to Muirfield in 2013, the links course on the eastern shores of Scotland where golf’s oldest championship has been played for centuries.  Murifield last hosted the Open in 2002, when Ernie Els won in a four man play-off and Tiger Woods shot an 81 in the third round.

This will be the 16th time the Open has been played at Murifield and the 11 year gap between hosting is the longest since it was without an Open between 1948 and 19s, 59.

Ben Enoch, 19, was killed in a car crash Thursday while driving to a tournament.  He was one of Wales’ most promising young golfers.

Enoch was travelling to a tournament in England when his car crashed into a trailer.  Enoch was a member of the preliminary 28-member Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup squad that will face the US in September.

The economy has already hit golf tournaments around the country.  Now its affecting equipment manufacturers.

Titleist announced plans today to reduce their work force by 169 jobs.  The lay-offs come due to shrinking world-wide demand for golf balls.  The employees were given the news during their Wednesday shift and will be limited to the plants in New Bedford and Dartmouth.  This round of cut backs come on January’s reduction in work-force that affected about 12% of the companies employees.

European captain Colin Montgomerie has hinted that he will request a change in Europe’s qualification system for the Ryder Cup.  Europe currently opts for 10 qualifiers and 2 wild cards which is the system that has been in place since the match in 1995.  Montgomerie has always wanted to have more control of the selection of team members.  He has even gone so far as to suggest that he be allowed to pick all 12 members.

Montgomerie has declined to say exactly what changes he will lobby for, only that he will seek a change to the rules.