Listening to sportscasters and sportswriters lament the lack of star talent at last weekend’s Bob Hope Desert Classic brought back the happier times of the pro-am built around the jokes and antics of one of the nation’s most popular comedians.

It once had been one of the crown jewels of the tour’s schedule and one of the biggest of the tournaments carrying a celebrity’s name. Only the Bing Crosby Clambake rivaled its name recognition.

What should trouble PGA Tour officials about the slow downward spiral of the Hope classic is that it could evolve into a trend.

Consider that event drew the world’s No. 37 player from the long list of stars and superstars. Gone to Dubai were a couple of handfuls of the best players. Tiger was off somewhere licking his emotional, and perhaps physical, wounds. While the Hope wasn’t a complete flop, it didn’t have the razzle and dazzle of years gone by.

Back in April, 2007, I suggested that it was high time that the PGA Tour recognize the huge debt that it owes to sponsors, fans and volunteers by requiring that all players, even the biggest names, tee it up at least once every four or five years in six or seven tournaments in which they hadn’t participated.

That way everyone involved with the Swinging Door Open in Wayoutback, Ga., or the Refrigerator Invitational in Icemelt, Idaho, would get their chance at seeing the big names at least once in their lifetimes.

As I said in that 2007 column: “Big names mean big gates, and sponsors like to have their names associated with success. Without the generosity of those sponsors, the PGA Tour might be playing on many courses in some very small towns.”

The tour got to where it is today because those who operate this only-pro-game-in-town had a vision. PGA officials and players way, way back knew they had a product to sell, and they worked long and hard to package and sell it. Their effort paid off handsomely. Nearly 100 players last year pocketed a million dollars or more while chasing little white balls around a manicured pasture, much to the delight of millions of golf addicts watching in person or at home on television.

But player shortsightedness could kill the goose laying all those golden eggs. Tournaments could dry up if sponsors become strapped in this economy and find better places to put their money. Already the LPGA has fewer than 25 events on its 2010 schedule. The tradition-honored Hope could become a casualty next year if the powers-that-be fail to ensure that the fields are dotted with Top Ten stars.

I know that professional players are independent contractors. But I also believe that they will grasp the economic realities of so many tournaments going for years, perhaps even decades, without seeing even the shadow of a superstar.

Tiger chooses the number of tournaments in which he’ll compete and pretty much limits his appearances to the majors and his favorite courses. Jack Nicklaus did much the same. That’s human nature. You can only play so much golf before you begin to lose your edge, and you prefer to play venues that you enjoy and on which you have a history of success.

Still, it should behoove the PGA to impose a rule on those independent contractors to guarantee that long-suffering fans, sponsors and people doing all the behind-the-scenes work to support the lower profile tournaments will, at least occasionally, get to see Tiger, Sergio, Phil, Padrig and Rory.

Today’s big names aren’t going to like being told they must play in select, lower-profile tournaments in which they really don’t want to play. But in the end they may keep the PGA Tour stable and growing by doing so.

The fact is that there is only one PGA Tour in the United States. It can and does set the rules. Those recalcitrant players who choose not to accept them can always take their games on the road to Europe, the Middle East or Asia and turn their back on the hundreds of millions of dollars in earnings and endorsements available here.

Not likely.

Free throw

Bob Hope once told of being introduced to a golf game that he called “Free Throw.” His opponent gave him a stroke on the hole and Hope gave the player a free throw. Both were on the green in regulation. The man then picked up Hope’s ball and threw it into a nearby lake. Lesson learned.

Address correspondence to Clair Goodwin at sports@joplinglobe.com.