The setting for this week's Kia Classic on the LPGA Tour showed less than 1,000 residents in the 2000 census and is home to more than 2,500 businesses and 80,000 jobs.
There will be another 144 jobs in town starting Thursday at the Kia Classic. A full field is on hand with 77 of the top 80 players in the Rolex rankings playing for the title and money this week.
Last week's Founders Cup event sent $1 million to charity and winner Karrie Webb and the others players basically played for free.
Webb is the hottest player on tour. She won the HSBC in Singapore then followed up with a one-shot victory in the tour's first domestic event last week in Phoenix at the Founders Cup.
"It feels great," Webb said as she wound up her preparation for first round action at the Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms. "I guess I don't want to question it too much," she continued, "as to what's going right but I think it's such a fine line between having great results or having okay results."
Webb has found that fine line with her putting as she holed crucial putts down the stretch last Sunday then got up and down for par from short of the 18th green for the win when Brittany Lincicome made bogey from nearly the same spot, just short of the green at the final hole.
This will be the first U.S. event for many of the tour's Japanese players, who have had their attention on the disaster in their home country. Ai Miyazato, a former No. 1, has joined with Mike Miyazato (no relation) and Momoko Ueda to help raise relief funds for their homeland.
Michelle Wie returns to action after taking exams at Stanford and the tournament sponsor, Kia, is one of Wie's main sponsors. Wie has been making the rounds this week to events in L.A. to help promote the event and took in a Clippers-Suns game with Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
Yani Tseng, the world's No. 1 player, will be paired with Webb and Catriona Matthew. They'll get started early on Thursday at 8:35 a.m. (pacific) on the 10th tee.
