A links-loving mayor is plotting to turn this week's U.S. Open into an extended commercial for Pittsburgh, and, to some extent, for himself.

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Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's efforts to wheedle the city and its most-livable-city label into coverage of the big event at the Oakmont Country Club in some ways mirror the late Mayor Bob O'Connor's push in the run-up to last year's Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

"Any time you have a national event here, it's a good opportunity," Mr. Ravenstahl said. "You reach a different demographic when you're dealing with sports fans."

In the case of golf fans, you reach a prime demographic.

The Golf Channel, a cable TV outlet that will provide nonstop analysis of the Open from tomorrow through Sunday, counts nearly 75 million homes in its subscriber base, and defines its core audience as households earning an average of $77,381.

"The Golf Channel rivals any network in TV as the No. 1-rated network in terms of upscale viewers and homes," said Dan Higgins, spokesman for the channel.

Those viewers will get a dose of both Pittsburgh and its mayor. When reporter Megan West for The Golf Channel checked in with city hall and said she was coming to get "local flavor," Mr. Ravenstahl was all over it.

He led a tour of the city, touted the April finding that the city was again the Places Rated Almanac's Most Livable City, and was filmed knocking golf balls from Point State Park into the rivers.

The footage will be sprinkled throughout The Golf Channel's blanket coverage of the Open, said Mr. Higgins, along with spots involving the Steelers and Penguins owner Mario Lemieux.

Mr. Ravenstahl's enthusiasm for golf helped him land a live appearance on the channel's Tuesday night coverage. He'll also be on XM Satellite Radio's golf station coverage.

His staff has reached out to NBC and ESPN asking for time to push Pittsburgh, but he said he thinks those networks will only turn to him if they need to kill time during a lengthy rain delay.

Mr. O'Connor used the All-Star Game as an excuse for his Redd Up Campaign, arguing that the city should look its best for the visitors and national camera crews. A central feature of the campaign was free billboard ads, which included pictures of the silver-haired mayor's smiling face.

When Mr. Ravenstahl had his hands-on-hips image placed on the billboards, it drew criticism in light of what then seemed likely to be a contested Democratic mayoral primary. He ended up with no Democratic opposition, but he faces a November challenge from Republican Mark DeSantis after party officials successfully conducted a write-in campaign to get him on the ballot.

Staff brought Mr. Ravenstahl a proposed billboard layout including an image of Downtown, the mayor's face and the words, "Welcome to America's Most Livable City" across the top, and "Luke Ravenstahl, Mayor" across the bottom.

"When we designed it, we had his face right here," said interim mayoral spokeswoman Joanna Doven. "He said, 'It's not about me, it's about Pittsburgh. Nope, change it.' " The face went, the name stayed.

The faceless image will be in the rotation on three electronic billboards, on the Parkway West, Route 28, and Grant Street, Downtown. Traditional paper billboards are to go up today on McKnight Road, Freeport Road, Ohio River Boulevard and Saw Mill Run Boulevard.

The parkway and Route 28 locations are strategically located to catch the eye of out-of-towners flying in to catch the Open. It's not clear how many visitors are coming for the event, but the influx is likely to be significant. VisitPittsburgh estimates that 80 percent of attendees will be from outside the region, and the event is expected to sell upward of 250,000 one-day tickets.

"Hopefully people, when they leave, will realize that this is a great place to be," Mr. Ravenstahl said.

Like the Redd Up Campaign billboards, the new ads are provided, free of charge, by Lamar Advertising. Ms. Doven said they were designed in-house, as was a portfolio of new press materials the administration is using in its efforts to woo national media.

One fact sheet in that portfolio says the person with whom the mayor would most like to have dinner is Tiger Woods. He said he hasn't asked Mr. Woods for a date, and doesn't plan to do so.

"Next week, he'll be more than focused on his job, and I would never even think to break into that circle," he said. "I did meet him when he was in town [in April], just for a quick two minutes, or whatever it was."

That's when the mayor showed up at an Oakmont event involving Mr. Woods. It was the culmination of a 15-year love affair with the sport.

A player with a 10 to 15 handicap, Mr. Ravenstahl said he plays for "the challenge, certainly, because it's an extremely difficult game, so that's an attraction to me, to fulfill my competitive side. And also just the relaxing nature of golfing, and spending time with friends. ... You spend four or five hours with somebody on a golf course, you really can determine what kind of person they are."

Though Oakmont is outside the city and 15 miles from the City-County Building, the mayor's marketing pitch and golf fanaticism will take him there for much of the week. He hopes to meet today with San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, in town to check out the preparations because his town hosts the 2008 Open.