ON TOUR | This week's professional golf events

PGA TOUR
Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
Site: La Quinta, Calif.
Schedule: Wednesday-Sunday.
Courses: PGA West, Arnold Palmer Private Course (6,931 yards, par 72), Bermuda Dunes Country Club (6,927 yards, par 72), Indian Wells Country Club (6,478 yards, par 72), La Quinta Country Club (7,060 yards, par 72).
Purse: $4.5 million. Winner's share: $810,000
Television: USA (Wednesday-Friday, 4-6 p.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 3-6 p.m.; Sunday, 3:30-6:30 p.m.).
Last year: Canada's Mike Weir birdied the final three holes for a two-stroke victory over Jay Haas. Weir won the Masters two months later for his first major title.
Last week: Ernie Els won a playoff in the Sony Open for the second straight year, beating Harrison Frazar with a 30-foot birdie putt on the third extra hole in Honolulu. Michelle Wie missed the cut by a stroke, shooting 72-68.
Notes: Bob Hope died in July. He was 100. ... Phil Mickelson, making his first start of the year, is winless since the 2002 Greater Hartford Open and has slipped to 16th in the world rankings. He won the 2002 tournament with birdies on the final three holes of regulation and the first hole of a playoff with David Berganio Jr. ... Joe Durant set the PGA Tour's 90-hole record in 2001 with a 36-under 324 total. ... The final round will be played on the Palmer course. Palmer won the inaugural event in 1960, and added victories in 1962, 1968, 1971 and 1973. ... John Daly is making his first start of the year. He won the Korean Open and Pebble Beach Invitational late last season. ... The FBR Open is next week in Scottsdale, Ariz., followed by the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. ... Tiger Woods is expected to return Feb. 12-15 for his Buick Invitational title defense.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
MasterCard Championship
Site: Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii.
Schedule: Friday-Sunday.
Course: Hualalai Resort Golf Club (7,053 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1.6 million. Winner's share: $250,000.
Television: The Golf Channel (Friday-Saturday, 7:30-10:30 p.m., 11 p.m.-1:30 a.m.; Sunday, 7:30-10:30 p.m.; Monday, midnight-2 a.m.).
Last year: Dana Quigley won his eighth tour title, beating Larry Nelson by two strokes in the season-opening tournament.
Last event: Jim Thorpe won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup on Oct. 26 in Sonoma, Calif., holding off Tom Watson by three strokes. Watson won the money title with $1,853,108.
Notes: Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Lee Trevino are in the elite field that includes senior major champions in the last five years and tour winners in the last two seasons. ... Craig Stadler won the B.C. Open last year to become the first senior tour player to win a PGA Tour event. He played the PGA Tour's Hawaii events the last two weeks, tying for 28th in the 30-man Mercedes Championships and missing the cut -- three strokes behind Michelle Wie -- in the Sony Open. ... Quigley has played in a record 232 straight events for which he has been eligible and 218 in a row overall. ... Hubert Green is making his first start since having radiation and chemotherapy treatments for a cancerous growth on his tongue and left tonsil. ... Tom Kite won in 2002, shooting 63-69-67 for a six-stroke victory on the Nicklaus-designed Hualalai course. ... Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino and Watson will play in the Champions Skins Game next weekend at Wailea.
SUNSHINE TOUR/PGA EUROPEAN TOUR
Dunhill Championship
Site: Johannesburg, South Africa.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Houghton Golf Club (7,153 yards, par 72).
Purse: $900,000. Winner's share: $135,000.
Television: The Golf Channel (Thursday, 9 a.m.-noon, 11 p.m.-1 a.m.; Friday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-noon).
Last year: England's Mark Foster won a six-man playoff for his first European tour title, holing a 35-foot eagle putt on the second extra hole.
Last week: Trevor Immelman successfully defended his South African Open title on his home Erinvale course, beating Scotland's Alastair Forsyth and England's Steve Webster by three strokes.
Notes: Immelman, part of the six-man playoff last year, jumped from 56th to 37th in the world rankings Monday, putting him in position to play in the Masters. The top 50 the week before the Masters will earn spots in the Augusta field. ... Foster, Immelman, Scotland's Paul Lawrie and South Africa's Bradford Vaughan birdied the first extra hole last year, eliminating Scotland's Doug McGuigan and Denmark's Anders Hansen. ... England's Justin Rose won the 2002 event for the first European tour title. ... South Africa's Ernie Els, the Sony Open winner Sunday in Hawaii, will make his first European tour start of the year next week in Thailand in the Johnny Walker Classic. The Sunshine Tour will shift to Sun City next week for the Dimension Data Pro-Am.
-- Associated Press