We haven’t heard the last from ABC’s Buick drive-away

File this under “One to Watch”: ABC’s decision to leave the PGA Tour’s Buick Classic during a three-hole playoff on June 13 to broadcast its scheduled “America’s Funniest Home Videos” may have significant impact on the tour’s next television rights agreement.

The tour will begin TV talks next summer and there was already industry speculation that ABC Sports/ESPN may trim its extensive coverage. The PGA Tour and ABC are publicly disagreeing over the way the Buick Classic final-round coverage was handled; the issue is unlikely to be forgotten at the negotiating table.

The tour should use this embarrassment to focus on contract protection for broadcast coverage in its next deal. It should mandate partners to stay with the coverage until conclusion, the way ABC must stay with an NBA game, or Fox must stay with an NFL or MLB game. David Stern, Paul Tagliabue and Bud Selig were able to get such language in their sports’ deals. Let’s see if Tim Finchem can wield the same power.