West’s role at Riviera not for show From Justin Timberlake to George Lopez to even , celebrities have offered their names to several PGA
Tour events in recent years, with varying degrees of involvement in the actual day-to-day operations of these tournaments. Thursday’s announcement of NBA all-time great Jerry West as the newest executive director of the Northern Trust Open, however, is hardly a similar situation. The longtime Los Angeles-based event will not be referred to as the Jerry West Open or the Northern Trust Open hosted by Jerry West. His likeness will not adorn billboards adjacent to the freeways. He will not spend tournament week leisurely hanging at the first tee while spinning a basketball on his finger. And most importantly, he will not be a laissez-faire leader. No, this is a unique circumstance for West in that it’s an actual, honest-to-goodness job that he is embarking upon. That’s not to say other celebs haven’t worked diligently in their roles with the tour, but in many ways those positions came with a sole prerequisite of being famous and a foremost job description of figurehead. Call it a matter of name value and recognition over anything else. Then again, it doesn’t exactly hurt that the guy known as “Mr. Clutch” owns one of the most recognizable faces in L.A., either. Among West’s duties in the position will be speaking engagements and driving both sales and support for the tournament. The PGA Tour hasn’t been bashful about wanting to establish itself in some of the country’s largest cities in recent years though the longtime Chicago-based event has become a biennial occurrence, tournaments have been added in Washington D.C. and Boston recently, with the late-season New York event creeping ever so closer to the core of the Big Apple. It’s no secret that tour brass wants to capitalize on the L.A. market, as well, recalling the glamour years of the once-prominent event.