A YEAR AGO this month, you may recall, the celebrity Web site TMZ blew the lid off a major, golf-related scandal -- or so it thought. Under the headline "Bailout Bank Blows Millions Partying in L.A.," it breathlessly revealed that Northern Trust, despite having accepted $1.6 billion in U.S. government Troubled Asset Relief Program funds three months earlier, was entertaining clients at the PGA Tour event it sponsors, the Northern Trust Open. Within hours, pundits from Bill O'Reilly of Fox News to Maureen Dowd of the New York Times were decrying such excess, particularly the party at which Sheryl Crow sang, in a time of financial crisis. Members of Congress released letters demanding recourse. Golf in general, already suspiciously regarded by many, was stigmatized.

The Northern Trust Open returned this week to the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, and guess what? Advance ticket sales were up 35% and hospitality sales -- that would be those big tents used for corporate entertaining -- are up 50%. The golf isn't bad, either. Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Steve Stricker are in the field.