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Toward the end of the 14th Toshiba Classic, the drama continued to unfold, this time in the form of a playoff.

Two pro golfers each with impressive resumes battled it out for seven holes. Bernhard Langer came away with a thrilling victory over defending champion Jay Haas, who was trying to become the tournament’s first repeat winner.

Just another weekend for the Toshiba Classic. Just another reason why Hoag Hospital and the Newport Beach Country Club won’t let go of the Champions Tour event that completed its 14th year.

The Toshiba Classic is here to stay.

Apparently that’s not news, even with the majestic Pelican Hill Golf Club and resort just a few miles away.

Perish that thought.

Jeff Purser, Toshiba’s tournament director, scoffed at the notion that the tournament would ever leave the Newport Beach Country Club.

“Why would we,” Purser said.

There’s other golf courses in the area, he was told.

“You mean, Pelican,” Purser responded. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful resort. But how would you possibly have a golf tournament where people can walk around, have hospitality and do what we do here? You can’t do it. It’s impossible. You can’t have an event on a property like that. You can’t walk it. Hospitality would be impossible to set up. You can’t put it in that place. There are a million reasons you can’t put it there.”

Purser also said parking would be problem. The distance between holes at Pelican would also be difficult for television crews, as well as spectators.

No, Newport Beach Country Club is the ideal spot for this tournament that features some big names. This year, the names seemed to be more prominent than in year’s past.

Purser described it as a deep field with Loren Roberts, Fred Funk and Scott Hoch coming in, not to mention the debut of Sandy Lyle and the appearance of legendary Gary Player.

That all translated to attendance numbers going up, 2,500 more than last year. Throughout the week, the total attendance was 82,500.

For the final round, 27,500 people came to the Newport Beach Country Club.

Purser came up with the attendance numbers, using data from bus/shuttle pick-ups, ticket sales at the gate and pre-event sales.

“It’s not an exact science, but it is a pretty good estimation,” he said. “I’m not one to inflate figures like a lot of events. Like the Phoenix Open actually does 200,000 people on a day. Come on. You gotta be kidding me. You can’t get that many people through a turnstile.”

Another successful year gives Purser confidence, even if he doesn’t know the exact length of the contract between Hoag and the NBCC.

“People get hung up on our contract. We get that question a lot,” he said. “I want to say we have it through 2010, 2011. It’s just a contract. You have to have a duration on the contract.

“We’ve had an 11-year partnership with Newport Beach Country Club, when the contract is up, we’ll have a new one. It’s as simple as that.”

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at steve.virgen@latimes.com.