The PGA Tour is back in Los Angeles for the Genesis Open, with a new title sponsor for the tournament previously known as the Northern Trust Open, the Nissan Open and the Los Angeles Open.
You're probably wondering what or who Genesis is and what it is that they do. And, no, we're not talking about the Phil Collins-led band.
Genesis is a subsidiary of Hyundai, whose U.S. base is located in Orange County, Calif. At one time, Hyundai made a sedan called the Genesis. Since, however, Hyundai has launched Genesis as a luxury car off-shoot with two models: the G90 sedan, which starts at $68,000, and the G80, which is a little smaller and not as powerful, starting at $41,000.
Hyundai decided to move its PGA Tour sponsorship dollars from the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which starts the calendar year as a winners-only event. That forced Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), who sub-leased their 10-year title sponsorship deal to Hyundai, to once again become title sponsor at Kapalua. With Northern Trust choosing to take its name off of the Los Angeles tournament to replace Barclays as the title sponsor of the first FedEx Cup playoff event, an opening was created that Hyundai took by placing the Genesis name on the event at Riviera Country Club.
