Notes: Toshiba Classic title a tough one to defend

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The Champions Tour heads to the Newport Beach CC in Newport Beach, Calif., for the Toshiba Classic on March 7-13. The purse is $1.7 million with $255,000 and 255 Charles Schwab Cup points going to the winner. Last year, Fred Couples secured his second consecutive Champions Tour win in just his third start with a four-stroke victory over Ronnie Black.

LAST WEEK

• It was Nick Price's 14th career start at the Honda Classic -- an event he won in 1994. Price was making his second PGA TOUR start since playing his last full season in 2006. His only other start led to a T42 at the 2008 Mayakoba Golf Classic.

• Russ Cochran (68), Olin Browne (72) and Dick Mast (72) were unsuccessful at Monday qualifying for The Honda Classic. The three players were trying to join the five Champions Tour professionals already in The Honda Classic field. Here's a look at how those players finished -- Kenny Perry (T43), Nick Price (T55), Fred Funk (MC) and Lee Rinker (MC). Mark Calcavecchia withdrew after the first round with back spasms.

• He's about to turn 75 next week but Sir Bob Charles scored or bettered his age twice last week when he shot 74 for a fourth-place finish at the Queenstown Pro-Am, followed by an even-par round of 71 for a tie for 10th at the City of Dunedin PGA Legends tournament in New Zealand.

• Steve Pate missed the cut in his attempt to defend his title at the Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open on the Nationwide Tour last week. When he won last year he became the oldest winner in Nationwide Tour history. Pate, a former U.S. Ryder Cup team member, will join the Champions Tour when he turns 50 on May 26 this year.

• It was announced last week that The Senior British Open will return to Turnberry in 2012. It will be the seventh occasion that Turnberry's Ailsa Course has hosted The Senior Open Championship, the most of any venue on the roster. This year's tournament is at Walton Heath GC in London.

• With John Cook's recent third-place finish at the Mayakoba Classic, Champions Tour professionals have finished in the top three of a PGA TOUR event at least once in the past five seasons (2011/John Cook/3rd at Mayakoba Classic, 2010/Michael Allen/2nd at Viking Classic and Corey Pavin/T2 at Travelers Championship, 2009/Tom Watson/2nd at British Open, 2008/Greg Norman/3rd at British Open, 2007/Fred Funk/1st at Mayakoba Classic).

• Greg Norman was the star attraction of Golfest 2011 at The Villages in Florida last week. In a celebration of all things golf, Norman discussed golf, wine, business and the future of the game. "He was just amazing," said Dick Bachelor, one of the many attendees. "He conveyed his thoughts in a way everyone could understand."

• After four weeks of the Champions Tour Hall of Fame Trivia Challenge, only 57 points separate the top four on the leaderboard. Champions Tour and World Golf Hall of Fame Facebook fans are competing for a chance to win the "Golden Ticket" to the 2011 World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and The PLAYERS Championship. The Golden Ticket includes a trip for two to the 2011 World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in St. Augustine, Fla., airfares, car rental, a three-night hotel stay, a round of golf at the Slammer and Squire, tickets to practice rounds of The PLAYERS Championship, along with entry into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

• Craig Trenholme, the senior superintendent at Kaanapali GC which hosts the Champions Tour Skins Game, was named 2010 Superintendent of the Year by the Hawaii Chapter of the Golf Course Superintendents Association.

• 51-year-old South African Chris Williams claimed his first European Senior Tour title, shooting a final-round 64 to win the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters.

• Damon Green had a great chance to win the Coors Light Open at Fort Myers CC last week. He shared the lead for most of the back nine before Dustin Cone snatched victory with a final-hole par after Green hit his tee shot in the hazard. Green, who finished T17 at the Champions Tour Q-School last year, caddies for former Masters champion Zach Johnson.

• Bob Boyd recently lost his five year battle with acute myeloid leukemia, passing away late last month at age 55. Boyd played in a handful of Senior British Open Championships and Senior PGA Championships following a PGA TOUR career which saw him make 102 starts.

COMING UP

• The Champions Tour, The First Tee and Monterey Peninsula Foundation announced Monday that Nature Valley, a General Mills brand, will be the new title sponsor for the annual tournament at Pebble Beach. Traditionally held Labor Day weekend, this year's Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach moves to July 8-10.

• The Toshiba Classic, currently in its 17th year at the Newport Beach Country Club, is the second-longest- running sponsorship affiliation on the Champions Tour at 17 years (tied with AT&T). Only the Liberty Mutual Group has been affiliated longer, at 32 years.

• The Toshiba Classic Scholarship Fund has chosen Estancia High School's Charles Umansky and Costa Mesa High School's Daria Farris as its 2011 scholarship winners. Umansky and Farris will each be presented with a $10,000 scholarship and a Toshiba laptop at the Toshiba Classic's Breakfast with a Champion, featuring World Golf Hall of Fame member Tom Kite, March 8 at The Balboa Bay Club & Resort. The Fund, in its 12th year, has awarded 134 Toshiba laptops and more than $229,000.

• Ian Baker-Finch will make his Champions Tour debut at this year's Toshiba Classic. His last start in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event came at the 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial where he missed the cut after rounds of 68-78.

• The Toshiba Classic has been a tough title to defend. The closest anyone has come to successfully defending came in 2008 when 2007 champion Jay Haas lost in a seven-hole playoff with Bernhard Langer. Only Hale Irwin has won the event more than one time (1998 and 2002).

• Cleveland Golf CEO Greg Hopkins, who resides in Newport Beach, will play his fifth consecutive Toshiba Classic on a sponsor's invitation. Hopkins has finished 77th the last three years and was 78th in 2007. His low round at the tournament is 74 in the first round of 2009.

• Dave Stockton is the only player to have teed it up in every Toshiba Classic. Stockton's best performance in this event is a T2 in 1995 at Mesa Verde. His top effort at Newport Beach was a T3 in 2002.

• Peter Senior, who qualified for this week's World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship via his No. 2 finish on the Australasian Tour, will be 51 years, 7 months, 13 days when the tournament begins. Senior will be the third player over the age of 50 years to play in a World Golf Championships event (Jay Haas/6 and Fred Funk/2). He will also be the oldest player to compete at the Cadillac Championship and the second oldest to tee it up at a World Golf Championships event. Jay Haas was 51 years, 8 months, 19 days at the 2005 Bridgestone Invitational.

NUMBERS

105,846 -- The number of dollars earned per start by Bernhard Langer in his Champions Tour career. Langer has 14 victories in 71 career starts (20 percent).

10 -- The number of strokes under par for Fred Couples on the three par-5 holes at Newport Beach CC during his 2010 Toshiba Classic victory. Couples posted six birdies and two eagles.

22 -- The number of birdies Larry Nelson recorded in the 2003 Toshiba Classic, the most in tournament history.

9 -- The number of World Golf Hall of Fame members scheduled to play in the 2011 Toshiba Classic.

DID YOU KNOW?

There have been four playoffs in the 16-year history of the Toshiba Classic, and all of them have gone at least five extra holes.

ON THIS DATE

3/9/08 -- Bernhard Langer and Jay Haas battle it out in seven extra holes before Langer sinks a 3-foot birdie putt to end Haas' hopes for a second consecutive title at the Toshiba Classic. Langer's 12-foot birdie at the 54th hole earned him a spot in the playoff. It was the third-longest playoff in tournament history.

3/10/02 -- Hale Irwin wins his second Toshiba Senior Classic title and takes over the lead in the Charles Schwab Cup race which he holds for the remainder of the season.

3/11/07 -- After opening with a 4-over-par 75, Mark Calcavecchia captures the PODS Championship thanks to a third round 9-under-par 62. At age 46, he becomes the oldest winner of the tournament.

QUOTES TO NOTE

"I think Bobby Jones' hand came up and just knocked it out and said 'that's enough.' It was like I had had my fair share for the day." -- Nick Price refers to the birdie putt he lipped out on 18 at Augusta National during the third round of the 1986 Masters. He shot 63, the equal low round in any men's major championship.

"We've got to stop making golf courses longer, because it means you've got to use more water, more oil, more labor, more fertilizer, and these are all hurting the game." -- Gary Player opines on one way to improve the game.

"Rookies have 30 years of experience."-- Tom Kite, when asked to explain the high standard of play on the Champions Tour.

"This is not a comeback. It would be ludicrous to think I could come back and be competitive when I haven't played for 15 years against all these guys who are in great form and compete every week." -- Ian Baker-Finch, who will tee it up at this week's Toshiba Classic in his Champions Tour debut after retiring from competitive golf at age 37.

"He's one of the greats who I hadn't gotten to play with. He still hits it good." -- PGA TOUR professional Vaughn Taylor, who played with Nick Price during the first two rounds of The Honda Classic. Price was the third member of the World Golf Hall of Fame with whom Taylor had been paired in his career, following Gary Player and Ray Floyd.