Toshiba Senior Classic Golf Tournament

On one hand, turning 50 is a godsend for a professional golfer -- a one-way ticket to the Champions Tour where shorter, easier courses can rekindle a competitive fire grown cold with age. And the money's not bad either, as 14 players made more than $1 million in 2005. On the other hand, the half-century mark is a curse -- golf's cruel way of forcing players to own up to the idea that they are past their prime and no longer able to compete among the world's best.

Continuing an unusual feline dominance of golf, an Argentine nicknamed "El Gato" ("The Cat") claimed another victim on another continent, this time, the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach. And the man, formally known as Eduardo Romero, didn't do it by pouncing on his opponents as his moniker would suggest but by tempering his wandering mind.

The news the last few weeks at the O'Meara household, even though Mark is on the Champions Tour, has been about a fairly famous golfer named Tiger Woods. When Woods recently returned from an eight-month hiatus thanks to knee surgery, people called O'Meara for a comment. The close friend, neighbor and mentor proclaimed the 33-year-old Woods was better than ever. Saturday, however, people came asking solely about O'Meara.

The news the last few weeks at the O'Meara household, even though Mark is on the Champions Tour, has been about a fairly famous golfer named Tiger Woods. When Woods recently returned from an eight-month hiatus thanks to knee surgery, people called O'Meara for a comment. The close friend, neighbor and mentor proclaimed the 33-year-old Woods was better than ever. Saturday, however, people came asking solely about O'Meara.

There was a nine-hole playoff Sunday to determine the champion of the 2001 Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country Club. Terry Mauney wasn't in it. He had been the leader after two rounds. A 63 on Saturday had made Mauney, a former TV sportscaster, a lover of NASCAR, a wearer of a diamond stud in his left ear, the unlikeliest leader. So it wasn't a surprise that Mauney and his wife Gaynell were on a plane home to Charlotte, N.C.

Larry Nelson, the hottest player on the Senior PGA Tour, seemed to be in the perfect position to strike in the final round of the Toshiba Senior Classic. From his spot in the final group, Nelson had a firsthand view of the implosion of Terry Mauney and Bob Gilder, two leaders fading spectacularly on a blustery Sunday at Newport Beach Country Club.

Gil Morgan didn't know what to expect when he teed off Friday in the first round of the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country Club, so imagine his surprise after he'd shot six-under-par 65 for sole possession of the first-round lead. Last week at Valencia Country Club, his drives went crooked, his iron shots strayed off course, his putts didn't fall and he finished in a tie for 53rd. Only twice had he finished lower since joining the Champions Tour in 1996.

Driving a beer truck and playing professional golf may seem to have little in common, but Mark Johnson showed Sunday that a beer man knows how to deliver. Johnson holed an 89-yard lob wedge shot for eagle on the 18th hole at Newport Beach Country Club, capping a final-round one-under 70, a three-day total of 11-under 200 and a four-shot victory in the Toshiba Senior Classic. It was the first victory for Johnson, who delivered beer for 18 years before embarking on a professional golf career.

Turing a two-shot deficit into a three-shot lead in golf is called making a run. When Mark Johnson makes the move, it's called a beer run. Johnson did exactly that Saturday during the second round of the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country Club, where he shot an eight-under-par 63 and has a two-day total of 12-under 130.

When Brad Bryant walked away from professional golf in 1999, smoking cigars became a significant part of his retirement plan. A year and a half after he returned to tournament play, he found a way to make that vice taste even sweeter: a victory cigar. Bryant made a nine-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Sunday to finish at five-under-par 66 in the final round of the Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach Country Club.

Welcome to the Champions Tour, or more appropriately the 50-and-over tour, where a man approaching his 70s can claim a little triumph. Well, until a golfer 16 years younger steals it away. Jim Colbert, who turns 68 on Monday, hobbled through a five-under-par 66 Friday in the first round of the Toshiba Classic at the Newport Beach Country Club. That was good for a share of second place, one shot behind Bernhard Langer.

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.

His streak isn't quite as long as Tiger Woods', nor is it as well known, but that doesn't make Scott Hoch any less of a marked man as the Toshiba Classic gets underway today at Newport Beach Country Club. Hoch has won the last two Champions Tour events, claiming a playoff victory Feb. 17 at the ACE Group Classic and a one-shot victory Feb. 10 at the Allianz Championship. But Hoch, 52, in his second full season on the Champions Tour, is well aware that extending his streak to three won't be easy.

The paths that Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen followed the last year could not have been more different. Haas lived in the spotlight after being named the Champions Tour player of year in 2006. He won four events, including the Senior PGA Championship, and his success has carried over as he has finished in the top five in four of the first six events. Jacobsen suffered through pain -- in his knee, hip and back -- last year that ended with hip replacement surgery in September.

Fuzzy Zoeller's early opinion of the Toshiba Classic is that there will be more than a few happy AARP-eligible golfers when the weekend is over. The first day of the Champions Tour event at Newport Beach Country Club produced a crowd at the top. Zoeller, Ben Crenshaw, Jay Haas, Eduardo Romero, Tom Purzter and R.W. Eaks were tied at six-under-par 65, with three others lurking one behind and 11 more two behind.

The trees are bigger. The roads are wider. The Irvine Coast Country Club is now the Newport Beach Country Club, and the golf balls don't automatically pop out of the holes after putts. Still, in a lot of ways, Mark O'Meara was home. When he begins play in the Toshiba Classic today, his third event since turning 50 and joining the Champions Tour, he'll be walking over familiar turf at the Newport Beach Country Club. He learned the game and played high school golf here.

His streak isn't quite as long as Tiger Woods', nor is it as well known, but that doesn't make Scott Hoch any less of a marked man as the Toshiba Classic gets underway today at Newport Beach Country Club. Hoch has won the last two Champions Tour events, claiming a playoff victory Feb. 17 at the ACE Group Classic and a one-shot victory Feb. 10 at the Allianz Championship. But Hoch, 52, in his second full season on the Champions Tour, is well aware that extending his streak to three won't be easy.

The paths that Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen followed the last year could not have been more different. Haas lived in the spotlight after being named the Champions Tour player of year in 2006. He won four events, including the Senior PGA Championship, and his success has carried over as he has finished in the top five in four of the first six events. Jacobsen suffered through pain -- in his knee, hip and back -- last year that ended with hip replacement surgery in September.

When Brad Bryant walked away from professional golf in 1999, smoking cigars became a significant part of his retirement plan. A year and a half after he returned to tournament play, he found a way to make that vice taste even sweeter: a victory cigar. Bryant made a nine-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Sunday to finish at five-under-par 66 in the final round of the Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach Country Club.

At 6,584 yards, Newport Beach Country Club is the shortest course on the Champions Tour, and that may be the reason it annually produces the longest list of players in contention. The bunching trend continued Friday when Bob Eastwood chipped in from 12 yards for birdie on the 18th hole for a six-under 65 and took a one-shot lead after one round of the Toshiba Classic.