As more and more of the Top PGA Touring professionals continue to move their focus to only playing in the Four Majors of Golf the more less likely the average golf fan will be able to see them play. Skipping tour events by these marquee professional golfers will not offer very many opportunities for most of the golfing public and fans to see these very outstanding golfers play.
As a result of these independent contracts of the PGA lack of attendance at many of the PGA Tour events has caused a drop in golf fan’s attendance so low even the financially healthy sponsors are finding it hard to justify the expense of being a sponsor of the event. When sponsors leave, so does the event from that community which cuts off any exposure to the game of golf to the many people who live in that city, not to mention the billions of dollars taken out of that economy.
Naturally, the less exposure people have to the game the less popular the game will be to play which pushes down to there being less people interested in learning to play the game. The trickle down goes all the way to the local driving range not having enough business to stay open.
As a golf business owner and a contractor for the Salesmanship Club and The HP Byron Nelson Classic for the past 7 years, there is definitely some trickle down effect due to which of the top players are committed each year. Caddie Club provides services for all of the Pro-Am rounds so we do not depend necessarily on the attendance factor, but I have seen how the quality of the field can have an impact.