ON TOUR This week's pro golf events

PGA TOURNissan OpenLos Angeles
Schedule: Thursday-SundayCourse: Riviera Country Club (7,247 yards, par 71)Purse: $4.8 million. Winner's share: $864,000Television: USA (Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 3-6 p.m., Sunday, 3-6:30 p.m.)Last year: Canada's Mike Weir successfully defended his title, holding off Japan's Shigeki Maruyama by a stroke after blowing a seven-stroke lead in the final round.Notes: Tiger Woods, coming off a victory Jan. 23 in San Diego in the Buick Invitational, is winless in his hometown event. He made his first tour appearance in the 1992 tournament. Then 16, he missed the cut with rounds of 72 and 75. ... Phil Mickelson is taking the week off to prepare the 64-man Match Play Championship next week at La Costa in Carlsbad. ... In 2003, Weir beat Charles Howell III on the second hole of a playoff after overcoming a seven-stroke deficit in the final round. ... European Ryder Cup players Colin Montgomerie, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Thomas Levet, Ian Poulter and David Howell are in the field. Montgomerie lost a playoff to Steve Elkington in the 1995 PGA at Riviera. ... Ben Hogan stamped the course as "Hogan's Alley" with three victories in 17 months -- the 1947 and 1948 Los Angeles Opens and 1948 U.S. Open. ... Fred Couples won in 1990 and 1992, and was second in 1993, 1994 and 1996. ... The Chrysler Classic of Tucson also is next week.
CHAMPIONS TOURACE Group ClassicNaples, Fla.
Schedule: Friday-SundayCourse: The Club at TwinEagles (7,102 yards, par 72)Purse: $1.6 million. Winner's share: $240,000Television: The Golf Channel (Friday-Sunday, 1:30-4 p.m., 9-11:30 p.m.)Last year: Craig Stadler won the first of his five 2004 tour titles, making a 27-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Tom Watson and Gary Koch.Notes: Curtis Strange is making his first senior start. He won 17 PGA Tour titles, including the 1988 and 1989 U.S. Opens. ... Dana Quigley and Hale Irwin opened the season with victories in Hawaii. Quigley took the MasterCard Championship for the second time in three years, and Irwin won his fifth straight title in the Turtle Bay Championship. ... Stadler has made two PGA Tour starts this year. He tied for ninth in the Sony Open in Hawaii and tied for 14th in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. ... The tour will remain in Florida next week for the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in Lutz.
PGA EUROPEAN TOUR/ASIAN TOURMalaysian OpenKuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Schedule: Thursday-SundayCourse: Saujana Golf and Country Club, Palm Course (6,971 yards, par 72)Purse: $1.22 million. Winner's share: $203,180Television: The Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 9-11 a.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 8-11 a.m.)Last year: Thongchai Jaidee became the first Thai winner in European tour history, acing the 16th hole in the final round en route to a two-stroke victory.Notes: European Ryder Cup players Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Paul McGinley are in the field. ... India's Arjun Atwal won the 2003 tournament at The Mines. ... The Match Play Championship is next week in Carlsbad, Calif., followed by the Dubai Desert Classic and Qatar Masters.
NATIONWIDE TOUR/AUSTRALASIAN PGA TOURJacob's Creek OpenAdelaide, Australia
Schedule: Thursday-SundayCourse: Royal Adelaide Golf Club (7,113 yards, par 72)Purse: $785,000. Winner's share: $141,300Television: The Golf Channel (Thursday, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 1-3 a.m., 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; Monday, 1-3 a.m.)Last year: Australia's Euan Walters beat countrymen Wayne Grady, Brendan Jones and Anthony Painter by five strokes at Kooyonga.
Notes: Vance Veazey won the Nationwide Tour's season-opening Panama Championship on Jan. 30, holding off Shane Bertsch, Jim McGovern, Jon Mills and Camilo Villegas by a stroke. ... The top 20 money winners at the end of the Nationwide Tour season will earn 2006 PGA Tour cards. Three-time winners will receive an automatic promotion to the PGA Tour. ... The tours will team again next week for the New Zealand PGA in Christchurch.
Associated Press