PAC CAMPAIGN: Looking for an election without any dirty politics or cheap promises? The best golf has to offer is the campaign to be the next chairman of the U.S. Player Advisory Council, with promotion to the full policy board in two years.
The candidates are Rich Beem, Brett Quigley and Zach Johnson, and voting takes place through Friday at Riviera.
``I was just frustrated with the process,'' Quigley said about being one of the candidates for chairman. ``I think we need some guys who have a different perspective on some of the issues.''
All three of them paid their dues to reach the U.S. PGA Tour, spending time on various mini-tours.
``I think you have three guys who care about the PGA Tour and have played everywhere,'' Quigley said.
STEPPING UP: The U.S. PGA Tour event in Los Angeles has a new title sponsor that is serious about upgrades.
Northern Trust signed on as the new title sponsor at Riviera late last year, and already it has raised the purse by $1 million (680,000) to $6.2 million (4.2 million), made courtesy cars available to all players (up from half the field) and eliminated one of the amateurs from the pro-am, a top perk among players because it speeds up the round.
The tournament also is offering free parking for fans at the VA Hospital (fans used to pay $5, 3.50 for a shuttle bus), and will offer handheld leaderboards to the first 400 fans each day.
It also will stage a celebrity event open to the public on Feb. 10, the Sunday before the tournament, called ``The Michael Douglas and Friends Celebrity Golf.'' And it expects to raise $2.5 million (1.7 million) for local charities, up 30 percent from last year.
That doesn't guarantee getting the No. 1 player in the world.
Tiger Woods, who first played on the U.S. PGA Tour at Riviera as a 16-year-old, has not said whether he plans to play, although it is unlikely. Even so, it represents a strong push by a title sponsor to upgrade a tournament that for years relied mainly on being held at Riviera.
DIVOTS: A fifth-place finish by Justin Leonard at Torrey Pines moved him up to No. 51 in the world, all but clinching a spot in the Accenture Match Play Championship. Leonard started the year at No. 89 and has not finished out of the top 10. ... Rory Sabbatini has finished in the top 10 in six of his past seven starts on the U.S. PGA Tour. The exception came at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, where he was 17th in a 31-man field.
STAT: Tiger Woods' 62 career U.S. PGA Tour victories is one fewer than Phil Mickelson (32) and Vijay Singh (31) combined.
