The LPGA opens its season Thursday at the SBS Open in Hawai'i, starting a critical period for the organization.

Due in part to the economic downturn, the LPGA tour has four fewer tournaments than it had a year ago and about $7.5 million less in purse money. In addition, about one-third of this year's 30 events have contracts that must be renewed by 2010.

That's a troubling picture for the future, not only for the LPGA but the business of golf.

In separate interviews, both Cindy Davis, president of Nike Golf, and George Fellows, president of Callaway Golf, expressed the opinion that a healthy LPGA is important for their business.

"What we want is a vibrant, successful LPGA tour so we can showcase our product through the players we sponsor," explained Davis, a former LPGA executive. "Their visibility is important; the more of it, the better."

Nike has five players under contract, including Michelle Wie of Honolulu and Suzann Pettersen, both of whom are in the field this week in Hawai'i.

Callaway has four players, including Kapalua representative Morgan Pressel, considered one of the tour's most popular young players. In addition, it has No. 1-ranked Lorena Ochoa, who plays the Callaway golf ball, and Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam. Although retired, Sorenstam remains a key spokeswomen for the company and is considered one of the icons of the tour staff.

"The entire area of women's golf is underdeveloped in the United States," Fellows said. "All of us would like to see that corrected, and the health and well-being of the LPGA is quite important to that."

A veteran corporate executive, Fellows once ran Revlon Inc., and he sees some similarity between a women's golf organization and a cosmetics company.

"Revlon is a model from the appearance point of view," he said. "The LPGA is a model from the performance point of view. People like to see the game at its highest levels, and the pro tours are that."

Davis said 20 percent of the golfers in the United States are women, but they're part of a trend of people taking up the game and then dropping it.

"The LPGA is a tremendous product, but it operates in a very crowded field," said Davis, a former college golfer. "When economic conditions get tough it's tougher on that tour."

Television has long been a big issue with the LPGA, and its contracts with ESPN and the Golf Channel will have to be renewed, too. Sponsors, such as Nike and Callaway, count on TV to add to the exposure of their product.

"The athletes personalize and humanize our product," Davis said. "That's why we're involved with the LPGA."

Davis said she was not privy to the LPGA's business model, but Fellows believes the tour is "doing the right things" in the current recession.

"We've been through these cycles before," he said. "This period will pass. That's why it's important to do the right things to get ready for the recovery."