Romero’s hands full in bid to repeat as Toshiba champion

The 80-player field for next week’s Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach Country Club has been released.

Headlining the field for the $1.7 million Toshiba Classic are 2009 British Open runner-up Tom Watson, 2008 and 2009 Champions Tour Player of the Year and Arnold Palmer Award (money list) and Byron Nelson Award (low scoring average) winner Bernhard Langer and Champions Tour rookie Fred Couples. That trio won the first three events on the Champions Tour heading into the Toshiba Classic, Southern California’s only Champions Tour event.

The Toshiba Classic awards a $255,000 winner’s check and is televised on Golf Channel on Friday from 3:30-5:30 p.m., March 6 from 3:30-6:30 p.m. and March 7 from 4-6:30 p.m. Daily tickets for the Toshiba Classic are $20 if purchased by Sunday, or $25 at the gate. Clubhouse badges, providing admission to the grounds and clubhouse for practice rounds and the tournament, are $100. All tickets and corporate packages can be obtained by calling 949-660-1001 or at www.ToshibaClassic.com.

The Toshiba Classic field features 11 World Golf Hall of Famers, 23 PGA TOUR major champions and 23 Champions Tour major winners, and accounts for 514 PGA TOUR titles (47 majors) and 368 Champions Tour titles (54 majors). With 29 PGA TOUR (six majors) and 29 Champions Tour titles, Hall of Famer Lee Trevino is the oldest player in the field at 70. The golf icon will be making his second Champions Tour start of 2010.

“This may be the best field we’ve ever had,” Toshiba Classic Tournament Executive Director Jeff Purser said. “Between the 11 World Golf Hall of Famers and the eight past Toshiba Classic champions that our loyal golf fans can reminisce about, hosting every current Champions Tour superstar, and the exciting quality and depth of the 2010 Champions Tour rookie class, the Orange County community and Southern California golf fans could not realistically dream of a more accomplished group of golfers.”

The Toshiba Classic will host four of the 2009 Champions Tour’s major winners – 2009 Charles Schwab Cup points champion Loren Roberts (Senior British Open), 2006 and 2007 Champions Tour Player of the Year Jay Haas (Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship), Fred Funk (U.S. Senior Open) and Mike Reid (JELD-WEN Tradition) – and Orange County fan favorites like Corona del Mar resident John Cook and former Mission Viejo resident and 2009 Toshiba Classic runner-up Mark O’Meara.

“I can’t thank Toshiba enough for the commitment they’ve made to the Toshiba Classic. It’s a great event. I think a lot of the players get excited about playing there,” O’Meara said. “We’ve had a lot of nice champions there and I just hope I can play well … and have an opportunity to win.

“What’s nice about the Champions Tour and the Toshiba Classic is the fact we have pretty good branding. We have nice players the fans can identify with who have had nice careers. On the Champions Tour, the depth and quality of fields has evolved over the years. Three rounds, it’s basically a shootout. I think that’s good for the fans, good for TV, to see guys scoring and making birdies and the possibility for making eagles coming down the stretch.”

A full stock of the best Champions Tour rookies of 2010 will be among the Toshiba Classic field – Couples, Corey Pavin, Paul Azinger, Tommy Armour III, who finished second in his Champions Tour debut two weeks ago, David Frost and Murrieta resident Tom Pernice Jr., who has two top-25 finishes on the 2010 PGA TOUR.

Additionally, 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman will make his Toshiba Classic debut while playing his first full Champions Tour season. This will mark the first Champions Tour event in which 2009 United States President’s Cup captain Couples, 2010 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin and 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger will play together.

“I’ve never played Newport Beach Country Club, but everyone I’ve talked to who has played it said it would be a good golf course for me. I hope that analysis is correct,” Pavin said. “I try not to pass up the opportunity to play West Coast tournaments. Over my career, I’ve had good success on the West Coast.”

Argentina’s Eduardo Romero will have his hands full defending his Toshiba Classic crown against, arguably, the best field in the Toshiba Classic’s 16-year history. Last year, Romero shot a final-round 3-under-par 68, rolling in four birdies on the first six holes on the back nine to become the fourth international (non-U.S.) player to win the Toshiba Classic. Romero’s 11-under-par 202 gave him his fourth victory in his last 10 Champions Tour starts, fifth Champions Tour win overall and his 100th professional triumph worldwide.

Apart from Romero, past Toshiba Classic champions returning to the friendly confines of the par-71, 6,591-yard Newport Beach Country Club include Jim Colbert (1996), Hale Irwin (the Classic’s only two-time winner, in 1998 and 2002, and the Champions Tour’s all-time leading money winner with a Champions Tour record 45 titles), Gary McCord (1999), Allen Doyle (2000), Tom Purtzer (2004), Haas (2007) and Langer (2008).

World Golf Hall of Fame members entered in the Toshiba Classic include Isao Aoki, Ben Crenshaw, Irwin, Tom Kite, Langer, Larry Nelson, Nick Price, Curtis Strange, Trevino, Lanny Wadkins and Watson.

Crenshaw, Kite, Langer, Strange, Trevino, Wadkins and Watson were also past Ryder Cup captains. Of this group, Germany’s Langer was the only one to captain the European team. Other past U.S. Ryder Cup captains in the field include San Bernardino native and Redlands resident Dave Stockton and Hal Sutton.

Watson began 2010 by winning the Wendy’s Champions Skins Game in Maui before besting Couples in a final-round duel at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai to gain his 13th Champions Tour title and his first since turning 60 in September. Watson became the 15th player to win on the Champions Tour at age 60 or older. The most decorated golfer in the field, Watson owns eight major championships and 13 Champions Tour titles, including six majors.

Langer, inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002, was named the inaugural World No. 1 when the Official World Golf Rankings were introduced in 1986. With his victory in the Allianz Championship last weekend, Langer has tallied nine Champions Tour titles in three years.

The Toshiba Classic’s lead charity and operator is Hoag Hospital Foundation. During the last 12 years, the Toshiba Classic has generated more than $12.1 million for charity, the most on the Champions Tour. Hoag Hospital Foundation also received the inaugural PGA Champions Tour Charity of the Year Award in 1998.

Toshiba Classic supporters can congregate online at its official fan pages on Facebook ( www.facebook.com, search “Toshiba Classic”) and Twitter ( www.twitter.com/ToshibaClassic). Register to become a fan or follower of the Toshiba Classic at each fan page, meet and chat with new friends and golf fans, and stay up to date on all tournament and player information. Tournament information, statistics, activities and updates are also available at the tournament’s official web site, www.ToshibaClassic.com.

-- From staff reports