Professional golfers seldom go anywhere without the logos of their most prominent sponsors. If the cameras are rolling, they're wearing logos on their chests, sleeves, caps, shoes and even the backs of their necks. Today's pro has almost as much space for sale as a NASCAR car.

But that won't be the case this week during the Ryder Cup. The only logos that will be visible for NBC's cameras will be the Ryder Cup's own Valhalla logo, which will adorn the players' hats, shirts and bags.

The only brands that will remain visible will be on the players' shoes -- like FootJoy, adidas or Nike.

The rest of the apparel is strictly sponsor-free.

The millions that KPMG Consulting spends to sponsor Phil Mickelson will offer little to no return this week. Yum!'s familiar red oval won't be on display on J. B. Holmes' chest.

It's the only time, other than the biennial Presidents Cup, that golfers' corporate sponsors go dark.

Joyce Julius, the research company that tracks value derived from sponsorship, estimates that sponsors will sacrifice $500,000 to several million dollars in lost exposure.

"It's quite a lot, considering that there are not a lot of players to share that TV time," said Raymond Howland, golf and television researcher for Joyce Julius.

Because of the limited field, Ryder Cup players typically enjoy more exposure during this event than typical PGA or European tour events. In fact, Ryder Cup exposure is comparable to the final round of a major when a TV broadcast usually focuses on just a few players competing for the lead.

Ryder Cup players also tend to get interviewed a lot, which normally would add valuable exposure time for sponsors, especially those on the cap or the collar. In all, Joyce Julius estimates that most player sponsors are losing out on 2-4 minutes of exposure per hour of each NBC broadcast.

"Interviews do very well for a sponsor," Howland said.

The Ryder Cup is similar to the Olympics, in terms of trying to curb commercialism, but that doesn't mean it's absent this week. The European PGA sells official sponsorships to companies such as MasterCard and Virgin Atlantic, but the PGA of America refrains from selling any official titles. Even the clothiers don't have any official apparel status or use of the Ryder Cup marks.

U.S. captain Paul Azinger picked Nike, the brand he wears and promotes on the PGA Tour, to outfit his players with shirts and pants. Hickey-Freeman supplied the U.S. team's suits for yesterday's opening ceremonies. But Nike and Hickey-Freeman aren't permitted to capitalize on the relationship.

On the European side, Canali, an Italian maker, made the suits and golf slacks, and Glenmuir supplied the shirts.