DUBLIN, Ohio - So, golf fans of the great state of West Virginia, how would you like the Greenbrier Classic being moved into the fall?
Me neither.
At the risk of prematurely tripping the panic button, I can envision the PGA Tour coming to Gov. Jim Justice and requesting such a move. After Justice and the Legislature finally eke out the 2017-18 budget, he might want to protect his interests.
And ours.
If you want to follow this more clearly, pull up the 2016-17 Tour calendar. There sits the Classic in its usual Fourth of July spot, two weeks before the Open Championship (or as we call it, the British Open). In fact, the Classic serves as an Open qualifier.
The Open is the third major of the season, with the PGA Championship following in August. The Classic comes three weeks after the second major, the U.S. Open.
The Fourth of July week has been good for all sides, really. It's not a great week for TV ratings, but presents a nice "staycation" outing for fans and volunteers in the two Virginias. Justice can celebrate America's Birthday at America's Resort and, hey, it's free this year.
(Alas, no concerts. Big mistake.)
But there is a realignment in the air. The two giant dominoes are the PGA Championship and the FedExCup Playoffs.
First, the PGA of America is pondering moving its flagship championship from August to May. (Important point: The PGA Tour and the PGA of America are NOT one and the same. The PGA Tour operates none of the four major tournaments.)
So if the PGA Championship moves to May, the PGA Tour's only sensible move will be to switch its top event, The Players, from May to March.
So that would make the British Open the last major. If nothing else changed, that could work in the Greenbrier Classic's favor - perhaps some more world top-50 and top-100 players would see Old White as a nice place to tune up for the final major.
But not so fast! There's the matter of the FedExCup playoffs.
The entire PGA Tour season, which begins in October and wraps around the calendar, tilts toward those playoffs, which begin with the top 125 in the point standings. In the first three weeks, the playoffs are pared to 100, 70 and then the 30 who play in the Tour Championship.
Between the quality of the field and the four metro areas used - New York, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta - good galleries are assured. Good TV ratings? Not so much.
You know why. The second playoff stop wraps around Labor Day, from Friday to Monday. The third comes two weeks later, and the Tour Championship runs from Sept. 21-24.
That's deep into football season, in those early weeks when even Rutgers and the Cleveland Browns have a chance.
As is always the case here at the Memorial Tournament, Jack Nicklaus weighed in on the issues of the game, including this one.
"From a Tour standpoint, the ratings on the Tour Championship have been dismal, right?" he said. "I think that it's their largest purse, $10 million or whatever, and I think they wanted to have it [mean] more. And so to compete against college and pro football, it's very difficult to do, and they felt like they were getting lost."
Now, let's bring the cash into the picture. The playoffs, which began in 2007, carry an obscene amount of money, $32 million in tournament purses and $35 million in bonuses. The grand champion lands that cool $10 million bonus, and even the No. 125 guy gets $70,000.
Last month, the Tour and FedEx announced a 10-year extension of their alliance, which might jack up those bonuses. But both sides seem to want to move the season's end to that Labor Day weekend.
There begins the problem. If the playoffs, and the season, end three weeks earlier, something's going to have to give with the rest of the schedule. You're looking at three tournaments that would have to move - voluntarily or otherwise.
"Does that cause problems? Absolutely causes problems," Nicklaus said. "Will they get the problem solved before they do it [move to the end of the season]? I sure hope so."
Then he uttered the line that concerns me: "They [the Tour] have a couple of tournaments in there that they're probably weak, that they will probably ask - those tournaments might be asked to be relieved, might want to be relieved of the burden they have of being played in the middle of the season from a purse standpoint, so they could move into the fall."
The definition of a "weak" tournament is up for debate. The Greenbrier Classic's purse is $7.1 million and tops that of 26 other events, and I doubt Justice and company are feeling a "burden" over it.
As for the strength of field, the Classic hasn't been bad. As measured by the Official World Golf Ranking system, the 2015 Greenbrier Classic was stronger than five other summer stops, and equal to two others. Only the Memorial, Travelers Championship, the U.S. Open and British Open were worth more to top finishers.
The numbers have varied since 2012, the year the Classic moved to its current spot, but the point remains: This is a quality PGA Tour event that has earned the right to stay in the summer.
A move to September or October would push the Classic to the margins. Under the Tour's modern schedule, fall events begin the new season, and a new points race begins. But many top players go on siesta after the Ryder/Presidents Cup and field strength plummets.
And the Classic cannot compete with college football and the (Fill in the Blank) Festival every weekend. West Virginia, Marshall and Virginia Tech aren't moving their games around, even if they could.
I can picture Justice assuring the masses on this issue - shoot, I can almost write his quotes in advance. That's good, but he and his people may want to get out in front of this, if they haven't already done so.
Contact Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsmock@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dougsmock and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/dougsmock/.