Pga Seniors Tour Golf Tournament

His hands were shaking so fiercely that the oatmeal quivered and danced off the edge of the spoon. That was when Buddy Allin gave up on breakfast. He had this feeling before, the one where his guts seem ready to turn inside-out and every breath is a chore. But not like this. He had never been this nervous. Never. Not during the war or the disease or any of the other things that he's been through in his 50 years.

As the economy moves the world of sports from days of wine and roses to nights of vinegar and thorns, there is a way to do it right and survive. That will be on display this weekend at the Newport Beach Country Club. The PGA's senior golf tour, known in its politically correct form as the Champions Tour, will stop there today through Sunday for the Toshiba Classic. We live in an age of unemployment, foreclosure, new age-75 retirement goals and Manny saying no, and finally, yes to $45 million.

The Newport Beach Country Club will play host to Orange County's Senior PGA Tour event, the Toshiba Senior Classic, next March. Bob Neely, president of International Sports and Event Marketing, which will manage the tournament, said Monday that Newport Beach Country Club was chosen because of its location and support shown by community leaders. Coto de Caza also was a candidate. Mesa Verde played host to the inaugural event last March. That tournament, managed by the Orange County Sports Assn.

Tim Simpson's biggest health issue these days is his weight. "I'm heavier than I want to be," he said. "I'd like to lose another 15 pounds. " Considering what he has been through the last 17 years, though, being a little out of shape isn't too bad. Neither is his position at the top of the leaderboard at the Toshiba Classic. Simpson shot an eight-under-par 63 Friday in the first round of the Champions Tour event at Newport Beach Country Club and leads 2005 winner Mark Johnson by a stroke.

Arnold Palmer hasn't won an official Senior PGA Tour event in 12 years. He won his last of 60 titles on the PGA Tour in 1973. At 70, he now struggles to stay near par in the rare events he plays. But the King can still attract loyal subjects, even for a round with little importance. On Thursday, when Palmer stepped to the first tee at Newport Beach Country Club for the pro-am at the Toshiba Senior Classic, he was greeted by cheers from a gallery of about 500.

It's tough to be a rookie in any sport. But high-profile Senior PGA Tour newcomers Tom Kite and Lanny Wadkins are finding the adjustments are much different when you're a 50-year-old rookie. They still have the intense competitive drive that brought them long, successful careers on the PGA Tour. Many expect that to translate into more success on the 50-and-over circuit.

Larry Nelson came onto the Senior PGA Tour with great expectations. Here was a guy, many thought, who could push Hale Irwin and Gil Morgan for senior supremacy. It didn't work out that way in 1998, Nelson's first full year on the senior tour. Irwin won seven times, Morgan won six and the pair swept the four senior majors.

The Senior PGA Tour revealed sweeping changes Wednesday aimed at attracting more fans and making sure they get more out of a tournament than watching old guys play golf. Proposals include putting microphones on players, having them stop to answer questions that fans submit during the round, allowing the gallery to walk down the fairway in the final four holes and asking players to conduct clinics at the tournament.

Gustavo Kuerten is ending the year in a slump, and his No. 1 ranking could slip away at the Masters Cup in Sydney, Australia. Kuerten couldn't handle Goran Ivanisevic's tricky serve Tuesday and lost to the Wimbledon champion, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4. Kuerten won six of his 16 career titles in 2001, but he has only one victory in his last eight matches, dating to the U.S. Open in September. Earlier Tuesday at the $3.

Top five tournaments on the Senior PGA Tour, according to an entirely unofficial poll of players ... strictly a popularity contest. 1. Bruno's Memorial Classic, Birmingham, Ala. The place where you are treated like kings. The laundry gets done, there is child care, restaurant reservations are a foregone conclusion, and the food in the locker room is the best on the tour. 2. Countrywide Tradition, Scottsdale, Ariz. Desert Mountain's clubhouse facilities are the best on tour.

Eduardo Romero took the sting out of the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C., for the second day in a row, taking a two-stroke lead at the Senior PGA Championship. Romero, the first-round leader after a four-under-par 68 in strong wind, shot a two-under 70 in calmer conditions Friday to move to six-under 138. Romero has dealt with few of the problems many others in the 50-and-over field have had over Pete Dye's seaside layout.

The professional golf tour that belongs to the players who are at least 50 entered a brave new world in 2003, which probably would serve as more than enough headline news for a circuit that usually doesn't make much. But if you're looking for turning points in the long and increasingly boring history of what used to be the Senior PGA Tour, then this year had it all. Craig Stadler turned 50 in June, won the Ford Senior Players Championship on the old-guy tour and then came back and won the B.C.

The Senior PGA Tour revealed sweeping changes Wednesday aimed at attracting more fans and making sure they get more out of a tournament than watching old guys play golf. Proposals include putting microphones on players, having them stop to answer questions that fans submit during the round, allowing the gallery to walk down the fairway in the final four holes and asking players to conduct clinics at the tournament.

Gustavo Kuerten is ending the year in a slump, and his No. 1 ranking could slip away at the Masters Cup in Sydney, Australia. Kuerten couldn't handle Goran Ivanisevic's tricky serve Tuesday and lost to the Wimbledon champion, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4. Kuerten won six of his 16 career titles in 2001, but he has only one victory in his last eight matches, dating to the U.S. Open in September. Earlier Tuesday at the $3.

Top five tournaments on the Senior PGA Tour, according to an entirely unofficial poll of players ... strictly a popularity contest. 1. Bruno's Memorial Classic, Birmingham, Ala. The place where you are treated like kings. The laundry gets done, there is child care, restaurant reservations are a foregone conclusion, and the food in the locker room is the best on the tour. 2. Countrywide Tradition, Scottsdale, Ariz. Desert Mountain's clubhouse facilities are the best on tour.

It was only the fourth hole, so Richard Kim thought it was too soon to judge whether Pelican Hill was a spectator-friendly course. But by the seventh hole of the Hyundai Team Matches, Kim and his mother, Elizabeth, were ready to make a call. Elizabeth Kim was able to reach the seventh tee only by hanging onto the back of her son's fanny pack as she trudged up the hill from the sixth green. "You saw her pooping out," said an out-of-breath Richard Kim, of Fullerton. "I think I'm almost there too."

Eduardo Romero took the sting out of the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C., for the second day in a row, taking a two-stroke lead at the Senior PGA Championship. Romero, the first-round leader after a four-under-par 68 in strong wind, shot a two-under 70 in calmer conditions Friday to move to six-under 138. Romero has dealt with few of the problems many others in the 50-and-over field have had over Pete Dye's seaside layout.

The Toshiba Senior Classic turns 5 this week and finally has the stability to throw itself a decent birthday party. The entertainment is set--Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Hale Irwin, Chi Chi Rodriguez and many of the world's best professional golfers over 50 years old are already at Newport Beach Country Club. The decorations are up--a flurry of banners welcome visitors to the grounds that now look like a corporate tent city.

When the Senior PGA Tour hits Wilshire Country Club today, most of the attention is going to be focused once again on the usual subject. That would be money, of course. Joe Inman is the two-time defending champion of the $1.4-million event, in which Larry Nelson will try to wrap up his first money title. He has a $436,557 lead over Hale Irwin, who is in third place on the money list. Bruce Fleisher is in second, $183,828 behind Nelson, but he isn't playing this week.

Arnold Palmer hasn't won an official Senior PGA Tour event in 12 years. He won his last of 60 titles on the PGA Tour in 1973. At 70, he now struggles to stay near par in the rare events he plays. But the King can still attract loyal subjects, even for a round with little importance. On Thursday, when Palmer stepped to the first tee at Newport Beach Country Club for the pro-am at the Toshiba Senior Classic, he was greeted by cheers from a gallery of about 500.