PGA Tour honchos like having a place for the lesser players on its tour to play while the big guns are across the pond playing in the British Open. If they can't find another city willing to take on this task, they might be able to find a way to keep the Milwaukee event alive. That's one way it could live on.

There could be a last minute hero riding to the rescue. I don't know who could do this, but I love the sound of the OnMilwaukee.com Open. Of course, this daily magazine doesn't have the millions, yet, to take on that task.
If the golfers can hold on for a couple of years, it might happen.

Of course, there is the Stricker-Kelly speculation that some other tournaments may fold next year and that a sponsor with new dates will line up for Milwaukee.

I will repeat, again, what I think could rescue professional golf in this city.

Have a tournament for members of the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour. Take the top 70 available players from each tour. Let the ladies play from the ladies tees. Mix up the groups. Brown Deer is a great course for this because it's not that long. And the tournament would gain incredible attention from both the golfing press and the golfing world.

I have no doubts that the LPGA tour would go for it. The sticking point would be the PGA Tour and the organizers of this tournament who still like brushing shoulders with such stars as Richard S. Johnson, the defending champion, who nobody had ever heard of and who isn't even coming back to defend his title.

Whatever happens, I hope everybody in the city who plays golf or likes golf heads out to Brown Deer. Look at it this way -- if the weather is good, a walk in the park can be lots of fun and you'll see some guys who can really play the game. Just because you've never heard of them doesn't mean you can't enjoy watching them.

The Field:
Tyler Aldridge, Steve Allan, Arjun Atwal, Eric Axley, Brian Bateman, Cameron Beckman, Rich Beem, Notah Begay III, David Berganio, Jr., Matt Bettencourt, Ronnie Black, Kris Blanks, Jason Bohn, Matthew Borchert, Guy Boros, Michael Bradley, Mark Brooks, Bart Bryant; Greg Chalmers, Wil Collins, Brian Davis, Glen Day, Brendon de Jonge, Jay Delsing, Chris DiMarco, Jason Dufner, Joe Durant, Steve Elkington, Derek Fathauer, Brad Faxon, Steve Flesch, Carlos Franco, Harrison Frazar, Fred Funk, Tommy Gainey, Jason Gore, Nathan Green, Mathias Gronberg, Scott Gutschewski; Bill Haas, J.P. Hayes, Bob Heintz, Tim Herron, Lee Janzen, Kent Jones, Matt Jones, Jonathan Kaye, Jerry Kelly, Troy Kelly, Jeff Klauk, Colt Knost, Cliff Kresge, Stephen Leaney, Marc Leishman, Michael Letzig, Spencer Levin, Frank Lickliter II, Peter Lonard, Steve Lowery, Bill Lunde, Jarrod Lyle; Jeff Maggert, John Mallinger, David Mathis, Troy Matteson, Parker McLachlin, George McNeill, Rocco Mediate, Shaun Micheel, Kevin Na, James Nitties, Nick O'Hern, Joe Ogilvie, James Oh, Leif Olson, Jesper Parnevik, Corey Pavin, Tom Pernice, Jr., Tim Petrovic, Scott Piercy, D.A. Points, Aron Price, Rick Price; Brett Quigley, Jeff Quinney, Tag Ridings, Chris Riley, Loren Roberts, John Rollins, Patrick Sheehan, Webb Simpson, Heath Slocum, Jeff Sluman, Kevin Stadler, Paul Stankowski, Scott Sterling, Darron Stiles, Kevin Streelman, Chris Stroud, Nicholas Thompson, Brendon Todd, Peter Tomasulo, Kirk Triplett, Marc Turnesa, Bob Tway;
Omar Uresti, Bo Van Pelt, Brian Vranesh, Johnson Wagner, Jimmy Walker, Charles Warren, Aaron Watkins, Matt Weibring, Jay Williamson, Garrett Willis, Dean Wilson, Mark Wilson, Casey Wittenberg, Gary Woodland.

Wisconsin PGA Section qualifier: Brad Peck.

Sponsor exemptions: Billy Andrade, Brian Brodell, Robert Gamez, Ryan Helminen, Scott Hoch, Skip Kendall, Mike Van Sickle, Kyle Stanley.