So we've spent a week lamenting the likely end of indoor soccer and auto racing in the Milwaukee area.

This week could easily mark the swan song for the professional golf tournament that has found a home in Milwaukee since 1968. That's a 41-year history. A long, long time.

But the tournament is threatened, and likely to end. Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly, two Wisconsin pros, have a mysterious plan to save the tournament. But until I see something concrete, it could be so much whistling in the wind, like many plans to save this tournament have been in the past.

There are so many reasons for the expected death that they are almost impossible to count.

Chief among them is the continued erosion of the quality of the field. I've been to every one of those 41 tournaments and have witnessed the descent into what has become a field of never-will-bes, also-rans and beyond-their-prime players.

This tournament has had names like Trevino, Norman, Nicklaus, Woods and Snead in the field. Big, big names that drew fans. This year, none of the top 70 players in the world are coming to Milwaukee. The highest ranked player is No. 72 and his name is Na.

There are no draws in this field. Try as they might, the organizers of the tournament can't sell a pig in a poke. You can put sunglasses on this pig, but it's still a pig.

Now, don't get me wrong here. All of the guys at the tournament can play. They are the cream of the crop in the world of professional golf, but only the most hardcore golf fan has ever heard of many of these players. Look at the list below and see how many names you can recognize.

A big problem, and it clearly relates to the date, is the fact that the tournament has been bedeviled by the British Open. The best players in the world go there. I was covering the tournament when Lee Trevino was in a playoff. After several playoff holes, walking down a fairway. I was next to Trevino when he told an official to get his car ready because he was leaving to catch his plane to the British Open. He'd given up even before the playoff was even over.

Money also is a problem. The growth of purses on the PGA tour has been incredible, and the Milwaukee tournament hasn't been able to keep up. Even with the late Jane Pettit underwriting much of the cost of the tournament, the purse has always been one of the smallest on tour. This year, only two tournaments have smaller purses, and both of them go up against World Golf Championship events.

Milwaukee has been unable to get a big sponsor for its event. They've pieced together packages of sponsorships to get the tournament underway, but nobody has stepped up and committed the big dollars needed to run a big tournament. Ticket sales are kind of important to the tournament, but the big dough has to come from sponsors. There is not a tournament on the tour that lives on ticket sales.

I'm not sure I could have found a way to cure some of these ills, short of going toe-to-toe with the PGA Tour and demanding better dates, especially given the lengthy history of the tournament. Instead, the organizers of this event always seemed grateful for the scraps of the PGA Tour banquet.

Having said all that, this is an event with a significant history. Four black golfers have won this event, and I doubt that any other tour event can say that. Greg Norman won this tournament. The tournament has donated lots of money to local charities. It is one of the very few tournaments that is played on a public course. You and I can play the same place that the pros play, and that's a very rare thing. Brown Deer is a wonderful course, run by a wonderful pro, Scott Evans. He has overseen the creation of one of the great municipal courses in the country. The course is made for low scoring by the pros, and that always leads to excitement.

There are chances for this tournament to continue.

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.