May 29–MORGANTOWN — For a guy who just revealed he’s been suffering from atrial fibrillation for 40 years and that it eventually drove him
out of his job running the Los Angeles Lakers, Jerry West has been a busy man. He’s bounced around the country receiving awards, doing speaking engagements and generally living a hectic existence for a man who was supposed to be retired. Now, it has been announced that at 71 he is making a comeback. Neither Kobe Bryant nor LeBron James need worry, for West is taking his talents to the PGA. A skilled golfer, West’s comeback will not be as a player but as the new executive director of the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles. Anyone who believes this is ceremonial post doesn’t know Jerry West, for when he takes something on he goes at with everything he has. The announcement made in Ponte Vedra, Fla., by the PGA said West will “educate the community about the Northern Trust Open and all that it has done and will do for Los Angeles and “will work to further engage the community through public appearances and speaking engagements and drive leads, both in sales and support.” West’s presence will give new prestige to a tournament that has long been a mainstay on the Tour but has lost prestige in recent years.
It began as the Los Angeles Open in 1922 and has been played at the exclusive Riviera Country Club every year but one since. Its champions include Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Phil Mickelson, who won the last renewal in February.