It is not just the pockets of homeowners in the United Kingdom which have been affected by the current global financial crisis. Even the big names in the world of sport have been negatively impacted upon, with certain football clubs announcing that they will need to sell players before they can make any purchases in the January transfer window. Now, it seems as if the world of golf has been affected by the credit crunch.

The LPGA has announced that it has been forced to drop four tournaments previously planned for 2009. The tournaments which have been slashed are the ADT Championship, the Safeway International, the Fields Open, and the Ginn Tribute. Furthermore, the official prize money will have to be reduced as a result of financial constraints.

The Tour commissioner, Carolyn Bivens, believes that the golfing world will see a “slightly different tournament landscape” next year. This worrying news was simply compounded by the revelation that future tournaments may also be affected, as nobody is sure how the economy “will really perform in 2009, much less in 2010”.

Earlier this month, the Ladies’ European Tour revealed that it would have to cancel the Indian Masters as a result of the credit crunch. This event would have been held at the beginning of December but the Tour executive director, Alexandra Armas, stated that it was no longer viable after the global economic downturn.

The Tour next year is set to start in February in Hawaii with the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. The Tour will end in Texas with the Tour Championship.