By Andrew Both
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Commissioner Tim Finchem remains confident next year's PGA Tour schedule will remain intact despite concerns about five events still without a major sponsor.
Finchem said there was always a small risk tournaments could be cut from the schedule if they did not secure financial backing but was optimistic that a solution would be found.
"We have to have sponsorship to put on events, so if it got to a point where sponsorship wasn't available, it's always a possibility," he told reporters on Wednesday on the eve of the AT&T National.
"But candidly, we are on track with where we are in most years, good or bad economy, in terms of the amount of work we have to do either to renew sponsors or bring in new sponsors."
This year's PGA Tour features 47 events, including a tournament in China, and no real fears of any tournaments being dropped.
Among the five events yet to secure a major sponsor for next season are the World Golf Championships event in Miami and the tournament at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, held the week after the U.S. Masters, but Finchem said they were making progress.
A sign of the Tour's strength is that Philadelphia area was unlikely to get a place on the regular Tour despite being one of the largest cities in the U.S. and being included on a temporary basis.
The city is hosting the AT&T for two years only because the normal site, the Congressional course in Washington DC, is being prepared for next year's U.S. Open, but Finchem said it was hard to see any new cities being permanently added to the already packed Tour.
"We have loyalty to (existing) tournaments," he said.
"PGA Tour golf can be very successful in Philadelphia but there has to be a date opportunity, coupled with a golf course (interested in hosting an event). Then we have something to talk to sponsorship about."
(Editing by Julian Linden)
