The world of golf is heavily reliant on the world's top auto manufacturers for sponsorship and Phil Mickelson fears the USPGA Tour will be hit with General Motors and Ford running out of cash.
The two giant car makers are in dire financial straits, announcing large third-quarter losses last week and stressing that they are both rapidly running out of money.
Banks, another major source of golf sponsorship, are also in the grip of the credit crunch.
Mickelson believes that when the existing contracts car companies have with golf run out, many may not be renewed.
“I think the biggest impact for the USPGA Tour is with the auto manufacturers,” he said as he prepared for the Barclays Singapore Open this week.
“We've seen that General Motors is hurting and they may run out of cash by the end of the year.
“We've seen Ford certainly is struggling and all auto makers are feeling the pinch, including Toyota.”
“We have so many sponsors that are in the automotive industry that we will start to feel it shortly. Certainly when contracts are up, we will have to find new sponsors, I would guess, unless things turn around very quickly,” he added.
Asked if tournaments were likely to be scrapped, Mickelson , the world number three, who has been on the golf scene for 16 years, said it would become clearer further down the line.
“It's hard to say. In some areas we might just take some of our conflicting events and eliminate one to avoid having two events in the same week, so we might not feel it too much,” he said.
“But it is hard to see how it will play out right now because the contracts are in place for the next couple of years, so we may not have an immediate impact.”
Mickelson recently described golf in the United States as “stagnant” and is considering playing more overseas.
