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GREENSBORO — About the Wyndham Championship, which begins Thursday at Sedgefield Country Club, this much is certain: Sometime next Sunday evening, a golfer will bask in warm applause on the 18th green while juggling an oversized check, the Sam Snead Cup and his emotions all at once.

After that the Wyndham’s future becomes less clear.

When the latest iteration of professional golf in Greensboro concludes, tournament officials will begin negotiations to maintain the Wyndham’s position on the PGA Tour for another four years.

And in a sport that has seen its share of change — four title sponsors have pulled out of tournaments this year — nothing is certain for the Wyndham or the PGA Tour. From a new date to a new sponsor, everything will be on the table for discussion.

“Obviously there’s been a lot of change to the tour, and if you believe what you read and hear there’s more coming,” said Bobby Long, chairman of the Triad Charitable Golf Foundation, the nonprofit group that runs the Wyndham Championship. “We need to decide how we want to be a part of that change.”

Wyndham signed a four-year contract with the PGA Tour in 2007 that included a two-year option after 2010. Under the terms of the contract, the hotelier pays about $5 million annually for the title sponsorship.

Stephen Holmes, president of Wyndham Worldwide, said last week that he’s been pleased with the arrangement, but stopped short of saying the company was ready to sign up for another four years.

“We’re a public company so we’re always going to be cautious about these things in regards to employees and shareholders. We’ll look at all of our marketing data and cost-benefit analyses,” said Holmes, adding he expects talks to intensify with tour officials after this week’s tournament.

At least 10 other tournaments have title sponsorships that expire next year. Against the backdrop of a flattening economy, tour officials will spend the next year trying to persuade Wyndham and others to spend as much as $25 million to renew for four more years.

Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said last week that it won’t be an easy sell, and that his staff will be busy in the coming months piecing together a schedule for 2010 and beyond.

“What we’ve been saying for the last year and a half, we knew we were going to have some turnover in our schedule and we’ve been working on creating options for different parts of the season,’’ Finchem said.

Securing a deal sooner rather than later would give Wyndham officials leverage in seeking their ultimate goal: a spring date.

“We’re always striving for an A-plus-plus in everything we do with the tournament,” said Long. “If there’s one category we’re missing that in it would be our date.”

Long has repeatedly mentioned a May date as an ideal spot on the calendar for fans and Sedgefield’s Donald Ross golf course.

But a shift from the Wyndham’s current spot — typically a week most of the game’s top players take off — to a spring date would come with a heftier price tag for any title sponsor.

Holmes said his company will conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the tournament’s worth in the coming months. “Like anything else we need to ask ourselves, 'Are we getting out of this what we’re investing in?’ ” he said. “We as a sponsor need to decide if that’s been attractive.”

Wyndham certainly has been a more active title sponsor than Chrysler, Greensboro’s previous sponsor. In its final years as the title sponsor, Chrysler did little else but sign a check and send a few cars to the tournament.

Wyndham will bring about 500 employees and customers to Greensboro this week, according to Holmes. They’ll watch a little golf, talk business — even take in a Grasshoppers game Saturday night.

“We use the tournament as marketing,” said Holmes. “It has a lot of connectivity to our business.”

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com