NISSAN PURSE UP IN KEEPING WITH TREND.Byline: GREG WILCOX Golf When Kirk Triplett holed a four-foot par putt to win the $3.1 million Nissan Open last year, he won $558,000, the biggest check of his 10-year career. Keeping pace with most other stops this year, the prize money that will be doled out at Riviera Country Club The Riviera Country Club is a country club with a championship golf course. It is located in Pacific Palisades, California, within the city limits of Los Angeles, California. The country club opened in 1926, with George C. Thomas, Jr. as the course architect. on a Sunday afternoon in February has been increased to $3.4 million, so Triplett can pocket $612,000 if he successfully defends his title. He is delighted to try, which was evident during a visit to Riviera this week. ``This is the first time hosting a day as a defending champion and I am really glad to be here,'' he said. He and his fellow pros welcome the bigger pots. The financial reward for everyone making the cut goes up, the price for insuring a strong field. This money train does not stop at all of the tour-related stations, though. Charities that benefit from the PGA Tour stop in Los Angeles won't share in the new wealth, even though the purse for the Nissan has increased five years in a row and will probably continue to do so for a few years. They are neither surprised or mortified mor·ti·fy v. mor·ti·fied, mor·ti·fy·ing, mor·ti·fies v.tr. 1. To cause to experience shame, humiliation, or wounded pride; humiliate. 2. that their cut of the pot remains the same. It's just the cost of doing business. ``There was really kind of substantial growth in the mid '90s so it would be hard to maintain that kind of growth,'' said Rene Ordeneaux, president of the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce. ``Because the purse gets bigger, it takes awhile to find sponsorhips to make up for those differences.'' The bigger purse hopefully translates into more stars in the field, which helps sell tickets. Last yea,r the Nissan field included eight of the top 10 and 16 of the top 20 players on the tour's money list. Tiger Woods and David Duval played together on Sunday and Casey Martin and his golf cart were in the field. A similar lineup is likely this year. ``What we are trying to do is have the corporate sponsor (Nissan) keep up with the level of the (other) purses to maintain the strength of field,'' said Robert Yamamoto, executive director of the chamber. ``We try to keep them (donations) at the same pace, but lately the prize money has been outpacing them, so its been putting a strain on the net proceeds from the tournament,'' he said. Those proceeds from the tournament benefit the chamber's community service projects throughout Los Angeles County. Ordeneaux says the assistance is invaluable. ``This tournament is an important part of the Los Angeles community. It provides a lot of programs for the youth,'' she said. The Nissan Open helps a game become a tool that reaches beyond the playing field. The chamber is involved in the Urban Youth Golf Program and a tennis program through the Arthur Ashe Tennis Foundation. ``We use the sports hook to bring the kids in and then give them life skills they can use in the community,'' she said. The volunteer group also sponsors the Watts Summer Games. Three charity ticket packages, ranging in price from $300 to $675, are being offered this year. They include a variety of perks and benefit the YMCA YMCA in full Young Men's Christian Association Nonsectarian, nonpolitical Christian lay movement that aims to develop high standards of Christian character among its members. Kids to Camp program, the Children Affected by Aids Foundation The Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF) is the global nonprofit foundation devoted to providing social, educational, recreation and other critical support programs to children impacted by HIV/AIDS. and the chamber's Urban Youth Golf program. ON THE GREEN PGA TOUR Phoenix Open at Scottsdale, Ariz. Course:TPC (Transaction Processing Performance Council, San Francisco, CA, www.tpc.org) An organization devoted to benchmarking transaction processing systems. In order to derive the number of transactions that can be processed in a given time frame, TPC benchmarks measure the total performance of of Scottsdale (7,089 yards, par 71) Schedule: Today through Sunday Purse: $4 million, $720,000 to winner TV: USA (today-Friday, 1-3 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-2 p.m.); CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. (Saturday, noon-3 p.m.) LPGA LPGA abbr. Ladies Professional Golf Association TOUR The Office Depot at Miami, Fla. Course:Doral Golf Resort, 6,388 yards, par 72) Schedule: Today through Sunday Purse: $825,000, $123,750 to winner TV: ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (Friday, 1-2:30 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m.) PGA (1) (Professional Graphics Adapter) An early IBM PC display standard for 3D processing with 640x480x256 resolution. It was not widely used. (2) (Programmable Gate Array) See gate array and FPGA. SENIOR TOUR Senior Skins Game at Wailea, Hawaii Course:Wailea Golf Resort (7,078 yards, par 72) Schedule: Saturday-Sunday Purse: $600,000: $20,000 per hole 1-6; $30,000 per hole 7-12; $40,000 per hole 13-17; $100,000 18th hole. TV: ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. (Saturday-Sunday12:30-3 p.m. SCORING AVERAGE PGA 1 Greg Chalmers 67.66 2 Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer. Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. 67.91 3 Kevin Sutherland 68.50 T4 Scott Dunlap 68.66 T4 Shigeki Maruyama 68.66 LPGA 1 Se Ri Pak Se Ri Pak (born September 28 1977 in Daejeon) is a South Korean professional golfer, playing on the LPGA Tour. She will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in November 2007. Career overview Pak turned professional in 1996. 67.67 2 Juli Inkster 69.50 3 Lorie Kane 69.71 4 Brandie Burton 69.86 5 Dottie Pepper 70.00 PGA SENIOR 1 Larry Nelson 65.67 2 Jim Thorpe 66.00 T3 Ed Dougherty 67.33 T3 Bruce Fleisher 67.33 T5 Gary McCord 68.00 T5 Leonard Thompson 68.00 CAPTION(S): box Box: ON THE GREEN (see text) |
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