Golf-NBA Hall of Famer West to help revive PGA Tour event in LA

LOS ANGELES, May 28 (Reuters) - Basketball great Jerry West has been appointed executive director of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club to help raise the profile and charitable impact of the PGA Tour event.

West, an NBA Hall of Famer and 14-times All-Star shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, was jointly recruited by the Tour and the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce (LAJCC).

Although the Northern Trust Open consistently attracts one of the strongest fields on the PGA Tour, attendances have steadily dropped over the last decade and the event trails others on the circuit in raising money for local charities.

Organisers are also keen to get world number one Tiger Woods, a native Californian, back in the field for the first time since 2006.

"This is the beginning of something very special, for not only me, but more importantly, for the Northern Trust Open and the community of Los Angeles," West, 71, said in a statement released by the Tour on Thursday.

"For more than 40 years, I have taken all of the love that Los Angeles has offered me. This is my chance to do something for the community that has been so great to me."

After retiring at the end of a hugely successful playing career in 1974, West went on to lead the Lakers, first as head coach and later as general manager and executive vice president.

He was the architect behind the great Lakers teams of the Magic Johnson years in the 1980s through the Shaquille O'Neal era in the early 2000s. (Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Kevin Fylan; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)