Notes: Perry, Lowery making Tour debuts this week

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The Champions Tour heads to Houston, Texas, for the Administaff Small Business Classic at The Woodlands CC. The tournament is the 24th of 26 Charles Schwab Cup events and carries a purse of $1.7 million with $255,000 going to the winner. 255 Charles Schwab Cup points are also available to the winner this week. Last year, John Cook posted a two-stroke win over Jay Haas and Bob Tway.

LAST WEEK

• William Costa, a 43-year-old self-employed occasional golfer from Minnesota, is the grand prize winner of the inaugural Champions Tour Pick 'Em Challenge. Mr. Costa picked Mark O'Meara to win the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship in the final week of the six-week-long competition and earned double points (810) to capture the Challenge by 115 points. O'Meara defeated Michael Allen in a playoff and Mr. Costa won the "Ultimate Fan Experience" -- a trip for two to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco, November 4-7. Mr. Costa attends multiple Champions Tour tournaments each year and has sons named Nicklaus and Hogan.

• A new logo (left) was revealed last week for the Regions Tradition, the first major of the 2011 Champions Tour season, to be contested May 2-8, 2011 at Shoal Creek, near Birmingham, Ala. The Regions Tradition logo incorporates three main elements -- Regions Financial Corporation's name and symbol, the historic Shoal Creek name and the prestigious Lyle Anderson Trophy, awarded to the tournament champion.

• Congratulations to Ned Jarrett, the Honorary Chairman of the Ensure Classic at Rock Barn, for being elected to the 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame Class.

• Remember David Ishii? His lone PGA TOUR win was the 1990 Hawaiian Open. He recently won the Fubon Senior Open in Taipei for the second consecutive year, shooting a 5-under 67 to win by four strokes at Miramar G&CC.

• Jay Delsing became eligible for the Champions Tour when he turned 50 on Oct. 17.

• Three Champions Tour professionals competed at the Frys.com Open on the PGA TOUR last week -- Tom Pernice, Jr. (T18), Michael Allen (T63) and Tom Lehman (MC).

COMING UP

• If Bernhard Langer clinches the Charles Schwab Cup, it will represent the fifth time in 10 years that the leader, after the final major championship of the season, has gone on to win the Cup (2002/Hale Irwin, 2003/Tom Watson, 2004/Hale Irwin, 2007/Loren Roberts).

• Bernhard Langer has an impressive record in his three appearances at the Administaff Small Business Classic. Langer was T4 last year and won in both 2007 and 2008. He is 45-under-par for the nine rounds he has played in the tournament.

• Fred Couples, who played college golf at the University of Houston, heads back to that city for the Administaff Small Business Classic with a unique achievement under his belt. Couples has collected $2,016,894 on the Champions Tour this season. In his 30-year PGA TOUR career, Couples never surpassed the $2 million mark in a season.

• Mark Wiebe and Mike Goodes are the only two players to have contested all 23 events to date this season. Goodes is No. 46 on the Charles Schwab Cup standings and No. 32 on the money list while Wiebe is No. 33 on the standings and 40th on the money list.

• CBS Sports announcer and 1991 British Open champion Ian Baker-Finch becomes eligible for the Champions Tour when he turns 50 on Sunday, Oct. 24.

• With five victories already this year, including two major championships, Bernhard Langer is seeking to secure an unprecedented third straight Player of the Year honor.

• Did You Know? -- The Administaff Small Business Classic is the only full-field event on the Champions Tour that has been played at least five years without yielding a hole-in-one.

• Each year as a Champions Tour member, Tom Kite has finished among the top-20, single-season money-winners. Kite, No. 23 on the 2010 money list, is seeking his 11th consecutive year among that group.

• Kenny Perry and Steve Lowery are scheduled to make their Champions Tour debuts at the Houston event. Both are attempting to become the 16th player in Champions Tour history to win in their debut on the circuit. Tom Pernice Jr. was the last player to accomplish the feat, winning the 2009 SAS Championship in his first start on the Champions Tour.

• In conjunction with October's designation as Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Administaff Small Business Classic is encouraging volunteers, fans, media representatives, players and officials to wear pink during the tournament on Saturday. The 18 flags on the flagsticks will also be pink during Saturday's round.

• Fuzzy Zoeller will receive the Dave Marr Award, named for the winner of the 1966 PGA Championship, at a special dinner during tournament week.

ON THIS DATE

• 10/19/97 -- Hale Irwin collects his ninth title of the season, tying Peter Thomson's record set in 1985 when he is a three-stroke victor at the Hyatt Regency Maui Kaanapali Classic.

• 10/19/80 -- Brothers Danny and David Edwards team up to win the Walt Disney World National Team Championship by two strokes.

• 10/20/02 -- Dana Quigley celebrates his 200th consecutive start by winning the SBC Championship in San Antonio.

QUOTES TO NOTE

• "I feel like when I come out and play well, I'm going to probably finish in the top-10. But it's hard to win out there" -- Michael Allen, who also plays on the PGA TOUR, shares his thoughts on his chances at Champions Tour events.

• "I've been in her shadow my whole career" -- Peter Jacobsen, who was asked to move while posing for a photo with LPGA legend Nancy Lopez, because Lopez's shadow was hiding his face.

• "I'm going to give it my best shot. If it's not good enough, I'll still have a caddie job, hopefully" -- PGA TOUR caddie Damon Green, who will attempt to earn a Champions Tour card at the annual Qualifying Tournament in November. Green caddies for 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson.