There is much talk in the world of professional golf on how to improve field quality at PGA Tour events.

Several people point to the weak field at the Bob Hope Classic and other west coast events as tournaments in dire need of a fix. A generation ago, you didn't miss the Crosby (AT&T) or the Hope, but nowadays the story is different.

However, it's not just the opening leg that is hurting for star appeal; the entire schedule is hurting – whether Tiger Woods is there or not.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem publicly stated that he would like to see players participate in more events, especially in a tough economy.

Ah, but Tim, it is you and your predecessor, Deane Beman, who caused this problem.

Beman began pushing sponsors for million dollar purses in the late 1980s and Finchem carried the torch when he took over in 1994.

PGA Tour purses then skyrocketed in 1999 with a ripple effect felt on every major tour.

Forced to follow suit or lose its players to the American circuit, the European Tour jacked its prize money into the stratosphere and now has its own version of the FedEx Cup – the Race to Dubai.

With bloated purses – not to mention appearance money – available, playing a full schedule has gone the way of the persimmon wood.

Even No. 125 on the money list (Martin Laird) took home more than $800,000 last season. Add clinics, exhibitions, endorsements and everything else into the equation, and Laird easily earned more than a million. Not bad for 29 weeks of work.

Nothing will change under the current system. However, if the PGA Tour reverted to what they had until January 1, 1983, things would change dramatically.

Until that time, there was no all-exempt tour. The system was set up so that the top 60 money winners and those who were exempt by winning tournaments were guaranteed a spot in the field. The rest played in a qualifier on Monday to earn a spot. If a player made the 36-hole cut, he didn't have to qualify the next week. If he finished among the top 25, he got to play in the same tournament the following year.

It forced the majority of players to do what you and I do: work nearly every week of the year to bring home the bacon.

When all that changed, battle-hardened veterans spoke of the fear being taken out of the game and called it the welfare tour.

Gary McCord is credited (or blamed) for creating the all-exempt tour. He felt that the old system taught a player how to qualify rather than play. McCord – who never won a PGA Tour event and usually ended up back at Q-School every year – remembers seeing tournament winners from years gone by having to qualify and felt it unfair. The winners he spoke of (Jerry Heard and Miller Barber) were past their prime.

He also complained about golfers going broke as they traveled from town to town in hopes of earning a spot.

I didn't buy his arguments then and I don't buy it now. Counting back to 1960 only, the old system bred Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Ray Floyd, Curtis Strange, Larry Nelson, Tom Watson, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Dave Stockton, Johnny Miller and Hale Irwin, among others.

Regarding former winners returning to Monday qualifying? Well, welcome to life. If I did a great job four years ago, but stink at it now, I am shown the door.

With the amount of money in the game today, few would go broke bouncing around the country. And if they did, well it may be time to play elsewhere or get another job. No one is forcing them to play.

To account for the rich talent pool around the world, give exempt status to the top 90, with tournament winners receiving a one year exemption rather than two.

Except for the majors (which are run by separate organizations), winners of the Players and WGC events now receive two year exemptions, while European Tour event winners receive one year PGA Tour exemptions. Everyone else battles it out for a Monday spot.

I doubt the PGA Tour will ever return to the old system – or a derivative of it – but, it's something it may want to take a look at if they want stronger fields each week.