L.A. Confidential: Tour Takes Turn Down 'Hogan's Alley'

It's easy for golf to feel a little romantic about this week's Northern Trust Open. By any name, it's the old Los Angeles Open at Riviera Country Club. This is the course that Ben Hogan all but made his own, turning it into "Hogan's Alley." In the 1940s, Hogan won the Los Angeles Open three times and finished second once.

Other winner's over the years include Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Ben Crenshaw, Fred Couples, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.

Not bad.

And then there's the real history.

Riviera is the club that was so Hollywood.

Famous members over the years include Humphrey Bogart, Glen Campbell, Peter Falk, Dean Martin, Gregory Peck, Walt Disney and Douglas Fairbanks.

Oh, yeah, O.J. Simpson once had a locker there, too.

Time, however, marches on.

Now, the tournament still has a rich history, but a challenging future. The Tour schedule treats it like another week on the schedule. Former Los Angeles Lakers great Jerry West, a true L.A. icon, is the tournament director, and has been offering tickets to NBA All-Star week in an effort to attract some players to his field.

If that in itself doesn't seem right, a good run of weather enjoyed during the California is predicted to end just in time for Northern Trust, with showers falling at least through Saturday's play.

Still, five of the world's top 10 will be on hand when play begins Thursday: Mickelson (No. 4), Paul Casey (No. 6), defending champion Steve Stricker (No. 8), Luke Donald (No. 9) and Jim Furyk (No. 10).

FLASHBACK

Stricker did what he does best -- win with emotion.

Stricker, who wears his feelings on his sleeve, cried after last year's victory at Riviera. It was a show of celebration and relief.

Beginning the final round with a six-shot lead build on aggressive play, Stricker found himself playing safe and trying not to make mistakes.

"I just knew it was going to be hard," Stricker said after closing with a 1-under 70 for a two-shot victory over Luke Donald. "You're playing a different game than what you normally play. You played scared -- at least I did there for a while."

Back-to-back birdies at the turn settled him down. He made another clutch putt for par on the 15th hole to essentially clinched the win.

Stricker's win was his fourth in his last 15 starts at the time, and moved him to No. 2 in the world for the second time in his career. It was his eighth career victory, and the eighth time he couldn't make it through his TV interview without tearing up.

His lead was cut in half after four holes and it was as down to two shots when Donald made a 10-foot birdie on the fifth hole. It might have vanished entirely had Donald not missed birdie putts about the same length on the next two holes.

"If I got really hot with the putter, I could have maybe caught Steve," said Donald, who closed with a 66. "He played nicely coming down the stretch, and I think he was a deserved winner. But at least I gave him a little run for his money."

Stricker finished at 16-under 268 and earned $1.152 million to go over $25 million for his career.

THE GOLF COURSE

Located in Pacific Palisades, within the city limits of Los Angeles, the club opened in 1926, with George C. Thomas, Jr. as course architect. Although the long-time site of the PGA Tour's Northern Trust Open, Riviera has also hosted the 1948 U.S. Open, the 1983 and 1995 PGA Championships and the 1998 U.S. Senior Open.

The movie "Pat and Mike," starring Katharine Hepburn and Babe Zaharias, was filmed at Riviera, as was "The Caddy", starring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, with a cameo appearance by Ben Hogan and "Follow the Sun," about Hogan, starring Glenn Ford and Anne Baxter.

NO TIGER

Tiger Woods' very first appearance in a PGA Tour event was at Riviera. As a high school sophomore from nearby Orange County, Woods played as an amateur in 1992.

He shot 72-75 and missed the cut. His best finish at L.A. was in 1998, when the Nissan Open was held at the Valencia Country Club (Riviera was being prepared for the U.S. Senior Open). Woods shot 65-66 on the weekend, but lost in a playoff to Billy Mayfair.

At Riviera he finished tied for second in 1999 and had top-10 finishes in 2003 and 2004. The 2005 event had only two rounds due to rain; Woods finished 13th. He last played at Riviera in 2006, also rain-plagued, but withdrew after two rounds due to illness.

He has not been back since.

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING

With victories at the Sony Open and last week's Phoenix Open, journeyman Mark Wilson became a multiple winner (five events) faster than any player since Ernie Els opened the 2003 season with back-to-back victories.

BY THE NUMBERS

7: Players to have won back-to-back seasons in the tournament's 85-year history, most recently Phil Mickelson (2007-08) and Mike Weir (2003-04).

3: Consecutive starts in L.A. by Japanese teenage sensation Ryo Ishikawa.

12: Appearances in the tournament by Jack Nicklaus without a career win.

11: Different courses that have hosted the tournament in its 85-year history, 48 of them at Riviera.

AND OUR WINNER IS ...

Luke Donald.

Haven't you heard? The Europeans have taken over golf.

Not sure that's a fact, but they do have a lot of momentum working. It would be one more burr under the PGA Tour saddle right now, so it only makes sense.

The Englishman is making his U.S. 2011 debut and was runner-up in this event last year. He's finished top-6 the last three years, posting 12 straight rounds of par or better.

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