Take Me To Post Comment Form I spoke with Jim Fitzsimmons, general manager of the Valencia Country Club, Wednesday about the future of the AT&T Champions Classic in Valencia. It seems like it is very much up in the air as AT&T looks like it will not re-up its sponsorship. All that's known or all that people are saying is that they want a Champions Tour event at Valencia Country Club. It's a great event and needs to be here and all those who can make it happen, should make it happen. Tom Purtzer's win last year was electric and showed why it's the best pro sports event in the valley. I asked Fitzsimmons after discussing the future of this event if there was a possibility that a PGA Tour event would ever come back to VCC. He said: "If we had the opportunity to hold a one year PGA event, we'd look at it very seriously. The amount of exposure for the city and the amount of money spent in the city, I don't know how many fold — 10 fold (the difference would be between a PGA and Champions Tour event)? It's just a bigger event than what Champions Tour events are. We would take a look at it. We would probably have to do some work on the golf course. We stretch out to about 7,000 yards and I would think we'd have to add another 100 or 150 yards at least. I think the only way we have an opportunity is if Riviera got a major event — got a PGA Championship or add to the L.A. Open. Riviera is one of the best golf courses in the world so I'm sure they'd like to have another major event there. There's already been a little talk about it. If Riviera were to capture one of the large events and the tour wanted a secondary venue for holding the L.A. Open, we would obviously talk to them. I think it would be great. The Nissan/L.A. Open is now known as the Northern Trust Open. When it was the Nissan Open in 1998, it was held at VCC due to Riviera hosting the Senior PGA Championship that year. Billy Mayfair defeated Tiger Woods in a one-hole playoff.