L.A. Open at Riviera This Week Gives Pavin All the Incentive He’ll Ever Need

Corey Pavin is off to the fastest money-winning start in PGA Tour history, but you can’t blame him for being a little greedy this week.

Pavin, out of Oxnard and UCLA, will be playing in his own backyard in the 61st Los Angeles Open, which begins Thursday at Riviera Country Club.

“I think of all the tournaments besides the majors, the L.A. Open would be the one I’d like to win the most,” Pavin told the Orange County Register last week while taking a week off after winning the Hawaiian Open. Only three weeks earlier, he won the Bob Hope Classic.

“At the Hope, there were a lot of cheers for UCLA and ‘Go Corey.’ I’m sure there’d be more of that (at Riviera).”

There are several more reasons why Pavin should be excited about the L.A. Open. Nissan has helped boost the total purse to $600,000, including $108,000 to the winner. Second place is worth $64,800 and third place will bring $40,800.

Pavin has already made $307,040 in five tournaments, surpassing the $304,558 he made last year.

Other favorites this week include two-time L.A. Open winner Lanny Wadkins, 1986 PGA Player of the Year Bob Tway, defending champion Doug Tewell and Seve Ballesteros of Spain, considered by some the best player in the world.

George Burns, who won the Shearson Lehman Brothers Andy Williams Open by four shots Sunday in San Diego, is not entered.

Practice began Monday and continues today at Riviera, with the celebrity pro-am scheduled for Wednesday.