The Tiger Woods Foundation will be the host organization for the tournament that began as the Los Angeles Open and also plans to play next year at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, the PGA Tour announced.
Earlier, Hyundai Motor America became the title sponsor for the event next year after it was played for the last time as the Northern Trust Open in February, when Bubba Watson won for the second time in three years.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for my foundation,” said Tiger Woods, who grew up about an hour from Riviera in Cypress. “This is the first PGA Tour event I ever played, and it means a lot to contribute to a community that has supported me and my foundation for more than 20 years.
“I’m committed to playing in my foundation’s events, and it will be exciting to return to Riviera.”
Woods’ foundation has headquarters in Irvine and also is the charity arm of the two other PGA Tour events which he hosts, the Quicken Loans National and the unofficial Hero World Challenge.
A new name for the Riviera tournament has not been announced.
The Los Angeles Open was first played in 1926 at Los Angeles Country Club, where “Lighthorse Harry” Cooper claimed the title.
Over the years, it also has been played at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Hillcrest Country Club, Wilshire Country Club, Harding Golf Course in Griffith Park, Fox Hills Country Club in Culver City, Inglewood Country Club, Rancho Park Golf Course, Brookside Country Club in Pasadena and Valencia Country Club in Santa Clarita.
Riviera took over as permanent host site in 1973 and the tournament has been played their every year since, except 1998, when it was contested at Valencia because Riviera was hosting the U.S. Senior Open that year.
Woods played his first PGA Tour event at Riviera in 1992, when he was a sophomore at Western High in Anaheim, and missed the cut.
Surprisingly, Woods has never won the tournament in nine appearances as a pro, losing in a playoff to Billy Mayfair at Valencia in 1998 and tying for second, two strokes behind Ernie Els of South Africa the following year.
However, he finished in the top 20 in his first pro eight starts in the event until he shot 69-74 to make the cut before withdrawing because of the flu in 2006. He has not been back since.
Babe Zaharias became the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event in the 1938 Los Angeles Open at Harding Park, and Jack Nicklaus earned his first check as a professional, worth $33.33, when he tied for 50th in the 1962 L.A. Open at Rancho Park.
Nicklaus also never won the tournament, but Lloyd Mangrum and Macdonald Smith both won it four times, while Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer each captured the title three times.
The course became know as “Hogan’s Alley” when he won two L.A. Opens and the 1948 U.S. Open in an 18-month span on the classic layout designed by legendary George C. Thomas.
Others on the illustrious list of tournament winners include Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Jimmy Demaret, Lawson Little, Tommy Bolt, Gene Littler, Billy Casper, Ken Venturi, Charlie Sifford, George Archer, Dave Stockton, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Fred Couples, Corey Pavin, Nick Faldo, Craig Stadler, Lanny Wadkins, Mike Weir and Phil Mickelson.
