European Tour, Expanding but Short on Cash, Finds Itself at Crossroads GULLANE, Scotland - Muirfield is where the first official rules of golf were composed, predating the 2013 decision to ban the anchored stroke by 269 years. Britain is fertile soil for golf, its tilled territories producing seven members of Europe's victorious 2012 Ryder Cup team and six players in the world top 20, including two of the top three. The European Tour, which served as the launching pad for the likes of second-ranked Rory McIlroy, No. 3 Justin Rose, No. 4 Adam Scott and No. 6 Graeme McDowell, should be basking in the rays of a glorious sun no matter how the mercurial Scottish summer treats the golfers at this week's 142nd British Open. And yet, as the best players on the planet converge on Muirfield Golf Club, a cold economic wind has sent chills through the European Tour. Its 2013 schedule features one event in England, down from five (the British Open included) in 2006. There is one event in Spain, six fewer than two years ago. The Irish Open was held last month with no title sponsor, and the field for the Scottish Open, won Sunday by Phil Mickelson, contained only 2 of the world's top 25 players. The circuit is at a crossroads. Its pool of skilled players is deeper than would-be sponsors" pockets, leading to a drain of talent to the PGA Tour, where the purses are bigger, the travel demands are lighter, and every course is ready for its close-up. The exporting of the European Tour's higher-profile players is making room for the importing of promising young Americans like Peter Uihlein and Brooks Koepka, who have turned to Europe to expand their horizons and their games after failing to earn their PGA Tour playing privileges. The trickle from America could become a stream now that the top finishers at the PGA Tour's qualifying school are fast-tracked to the Web.com tour, a level below the PGA Tour. "Hopefully we can capitalize and hopefully start to pinch a few top young American players," said McDowell, a winner this year on both the European and PGA Tours. That would be fantastic if they came over here and support us and we get players like Peter. The infusion of new blood is not limited to American post-collegians. An era ended when the septuagenarian Neil Coles, a former standout player who was instrumental in the growth of the European Tour during his 35-year tenure as the chairman of its board, stepped down in May, paving the way to remake the board and to reimagine the possibilities. "You have huge opportunities," said the Englishman Paul Casey, who plays on both the European and PGA Tours. He added, "I would be filling the board with leaders of industry, political figures, marketing geniuses from all elements, people who are global, because this tournament is not European anymore." McDowell, from Northern Ireland, said the European Tour, which has spread to the Middle East, South Africa and Asia, should emulate the California and Florida swings on the PGA Tour and bundle big-purse competitions at high-end courses around its cornerstone events, the BMW PGA Championship and the British Open. McDowell said he was part of a group of roughly a dozen players who gathered in May on the Tuesday of the BMW Championship at Wentworth, England, to brainstorm strategies for strengthening the European Tour. "I'm not going to sit here and be a hypocrite," McDowell said. I'm playing my minimum on the European Tour this year for the first time in my career. Not something I'm particularly proud of. But he added: "It's tough to compete against $7, $8 million purses week in, week out. The European Tour is struggling, we know that, and as players we are trying to come up with a strategy to help combat that and really start getting some big, big events back on the schedule. The week after the Masters, McDowell won the Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina in a playoff against Webb Simpson. He took home $1,044,000. Luke Donald and Kevin Streelman, who tied for third, earned roughly $10,000 more than Raphael Jacquelin, who collected 250,000 euros (about $326,500) for his playoff victory in the concurrent European Tour event in Spain. McDowell pointed to the Scottish Open, which he counts among his 12 career worldwide wins, to explain the forces compounding the tour's financial shortfall. He suggested the tournament lost its identity - and prestige - when it relocated two years ago from Loch Lomond to Castle Stuart in Inverness. "I just think there's an opportunity to have a big-money event the week before the Open Championship on a quality links golf course, whether that be in Ireland or Scotland," McDowell said during last month's Irish Open. I think it's a no-brainer. Paul Lawrie, a Scot who was a teammate of McDowell's on last year's Ryder Cup squad, begged to differ, telling The Herald of Scotland, "Everyone is entitled to their opinions but they were poor comments." Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion, added, "My answer to what he said would simply be that the Scottish Open has a title sponsor, it's got more money than Graeme's national Open and it's played on a links course." McDowell moved to thaw the chill by issuing an apology, but the frost in Lawrie's words glazed over the picture of a European Tour unified in its vision.