The Tour announced the two biggest in August, saying that the PGA Championship will be moved beginning in 2019 to May and The Players Championship will be contested in March.
According to Mr. Feinstein, FedEx Corp., the title sponsor for the four playoff events that determine the season-long PGA champion, wants its annual tournament in Memphis, the St. Jude Classic, to be a WGC event.
If the sponsor gets its wish, Mr. Feinstein said "the plan is to move it to Akron's spot in August."
The corresponding domino effect, according to the writer and media personality, is that Bridgestone — headquartered in Tokyo — wants to have an event in Japan. That tournament, Mr. Feinstein said, would be added to the Asian swing on the fall calendar.
"It certainly wouldn't be the first time the Tour went away from a great, traditional golf venue," Mr. Feinstein said of the possibility of the Bridgestone Invitational's not being held in Akron after 2018.
"But the first priority is always what sponsors want. I hope that's not the case."
Paul Oakley, vice president of communications for Bridgestone Americas, said the company is "in talks with the PGA Tour about our official marketing partnership and the Bridgestone Invitational.
"Those conversations," Mr. Oakley said, "are taking place at a natural stage, as our current contract ends after 2018."
The Bridgestone executive added that the company can't comment on the current negotiations, and that it has "a great relationship with the PGA Tour dating back 12 years."
That partnership began with the Bridgestone Invitational in 2006. Prior to that, the event was called the NEC Invitational.
Asked if the company's commitment to golf extended to having an event in Akron, Mr. Oakley said via email, "Bottom line, there is nothing better than a Bridgestone-sponsored tournament at the Firestone Country Club."
The event annually produces a seven-figure commitment to charity, and a 2011 study estimated the Bridgestone Invitational generated $21.4 million in economic impact and 42,000 visitors to Northeast Ohio.
Through a spokesperson for Falls Communications, which has worked with the tournament since 2008, Bridgestone Invitational Executive Director Don Padgett III told CCB that conversations about the future of the event continue.
"All of our focus and energy now is going toward hosting a great tournament next summer and planning for the 65th anniversary of professional golf at Firestone Country Club," Mr. Padgett said.
Reached later by phone, Mr. Padgett, who is entering his 12th year as the executive director of the tournament, expressed similar sentiments to CCB.
"I think we will continue to talk with them," he said of the PGA.
Chris Smith, senior director of public relations for the Tour, declined comment.
Bridgestone's sponsorship of the WGC event expires after the 2018 tournament at Firestone. Four-year sponsorship extensions were announced prior to the final rounds of the 2009 and 2013 Bridgestone Invitationals. Both deals were announced one year before the lucrative title sponsorship was scheduled to expire.
The most recent extension, announced in August 2013, covered the 2015-18 tournaments. The 2017 Bridgestone Invitational ended with neither the tournament nor the PGA commenting on another sponsorship extension.
Steve Carter, general manager of the Akron club, called Bridgestone "an amazing partner" and said, "Unfortunately, they don't give me a vote, but if they did, my vote would be to extend this terrific run for another 60-plus years."
