“I’m not going to name names, but it’s out there,” Croak said.
“People don’t necessarily want to put their name on the event.” Croak said the Tour had not given him a deadline but that the “critical time” would be 60 to 90 days after the 2009 tournament ends on July 19. “Then you’re looking at a finite amount of time before you’re either on the Tour schedule or you’re not for 2010,” he said. “So I think you’re looking at 60 to 90 days after the tournament is a realistic time to say, ‘We better have something in place.’ ” “The economy is a little bit tougher than I think we thought it would be at this point,” he said. “Businesses are being a little bit cautious.” Frank, the powerful chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, lambasted Northern Trust about the entertainment the bank funded during the Tour stop in Los Angeles. Northern Trust received $1.58 billion from TARP, the Troubled Assets Relief Program, which was designed to keep the banking system from collapsing.
After meeting with PGA Tour officials, Frank softened his criticism somewhat.