Notes: Langer's clutch Sundays and Riviera Freddie

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The Champions Tour is idle for two weeks before heading to the Newport Beach CC in Newport Beach, Calif., for the Toshiba Classic on March 7-13. The purse is $1.7 million with $255,000 and 255 Charles Schwab Cup points going to the winner. Last year, Fred Couples secured his second consecutive Champions Tour win in just his third start with a four-stroke victory over Ronnie Black.

LAST WEEK

• Bernhard Langer's 20-under-par 196 total was an ACE Group Classic tournament record, one stroke better than the previous mark of 19-under 197 by Jimmy Powell at The Vineyards in 1992.

• Langer earned 240 Charles Schwab Cup points, his first Schwab points of the season, and is now in fifth place in the 2011 Schwab Cup standings. After three of 25 official events this year, Tom Lehman leads with 450 points and John Cook remains in second place with 305 points.

• Langer is now 10 for 11 on the Champions Tour when he's been a leader or co-leader heading into the final round. The only time he didn't go on to win was at the 2009 Toshiba Classic.

• Fred Couples (1990, '92) and Corey Pavin (1994-95) have combined for four wins in a five year period at the Northern Trust Open. Pavin has four top-10s from 28 starts at the event while Couples has 14 top-10 finishes from 29 starts. They each have 15 PGA TOUR victories. Last week, Couples finished T7 after holding the 36-hole lead. Pavin was T55.

• Couples, who won four times as a rookie on the Champions Tour last year, posted his best PGA TOUR finish since a sixth place at the 2010 Masters.

• 2010 Ryder Cup captain Pavin got the better of the two young Ryder Cup stars he was paired with in the opening two rounds. Pavin shot 69-71 while Jeff Overton fired 73-71 and Rickie Fowler posted 74-71.

• Tom Lehman is the Champions Tour Player of the Month for January/February.

• The ACE Group Classic introduced a unique concept at their pro-am pairings party. Participants were confronted with sealed briefcases, just like the "Deal or No Deal" TV show, held by youth members of The First Tee of Collier County and The First Tee of Greater Philadelphia. Each briefcase contained a Champions Tour professional's name. Without knowing the contents of the briefcase, individuals from each foursome picked one -- theirs to keep, if they chose. However, if they decided to forgo their originally chosen professional and draw again they were required to donate $200 to The First Tee. Over $6,000 was raised for The First Tee.

• The four amateurs who earned a spot in The ACE Group Classic's Wednesday pro-am by winning the Naples Daily News Amateur Shootout earlier in the week made the most of it. They teamed with two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange to win the pro-am with a net score of 25-under 47.

• Eleven-time Champions Tour winner Bob Murphy has been selected to receive the 2011 Humanitarian Award from the African American Golfers Hall of Fame. The award will honor Murphy's contributions as a player, as a longtime analyst on NBC, and as a member of the Delray Beach community where he has lived since the 1960s. Murphy, who turned 68 last week, will receive his award May 29.

• Greg Norman had surgery on his left shoulder for the second time. Norman had arthroscopic surgery last week to repair a torn labrum. The two-time British Open champion had surgery on the same shoulder in 1998. Norman also had surgery on his right shoulder just before The Presidents Cup in 2009.

• The first Champions Tour event in which the new cell phone policy, allowing fans to use their personal devices on the grounds, will be in place is the Toshiba Classic (March 7-13).

• Fred Funk has become a spokesperson for the Stryker company. Funk underwent a total knee replacement with Stryker's Triathlon Knee System in November 2009 and later won the 2010 JELD-WEN Tradition, becoming the first player ever to win a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event after total knee replacement surgery.

• Champions Tour professional Chip Beck, one of the most accomplished golfers in University of Georgia history, and Bubba Watson, one of the PGA TOUR's premier players have agreed to serve as the honorary co-chairs of this year's Stadion Classic at UGA on the Nationwide Tour.

COMING UP

• World Golf Hall of Fame member Lee Trevino is scheduled to play in the Toshiba Classic next month. Trevino, 71, has missed just two Toshiba Classic's since the event began in 1995 (2005, 2007). His best finish was a tie for 4th in 1996 when the event moved to Newport Beach CC after one year at Mesa Verde CC. 2011 marks the 16th consecutive year that the tournament has been played at Newport Beach CC.

• On Friday, Feb. 25, the "Barkley, Bean, Bryant and Friends" will be held at the nine-hole, par-3 YMCA facility in Lakeland, Fla., to benefit The First Tee of Lakeland. Several Champions Tour professionals are scheduled to play including Andy Bean, Brad Bryant, Rod Spittle and Mark McNulty along with celebrities and athletes from other leagues. This year a Special Olympics athlete will also be on each team. NBA legend Charles Barkley will headline the event.

NUMBERS

27 -- The number of runner-up finishes, along with his 13 victories, for Mark Calcavecchia in his 30-year career on the PGA TOUR. Calcavecchia, who has yet to post a Champions Tour win, also finished runner-up at the 2010 3M Championship.

ON THIS DATE

2/22/04 -- In his initial Champions Tour start, Mark McNulty wins the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am near Tampa.

2/25/07 -- Fred Funk becomes the third player to win a Champions Tour and PGA Tour event in the same year when he wins the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya, following his victory at the Turtle Bay Championship.

2/26/06 -- Jerry Pate earns his first win in 23 years, 11 months, 5 days when he prevailed at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. His birdie on the final hole allows him to hold off Hale Irwin, Mark James and Morris Hatalsky. Once again, it is a 5-iron which sets up his win. Pate's effort from 165 yards to within 10 ˝ feet is the difference. Following his win he re-enacts his famous dive into the lake at the TPC Sawgrass by doing so at the TPC Tampa Bay.

QUOTES TO NOTE

"Hell, I'm 75. I'd beat 80 percent of American 20-year-olds in a fitness contest if you take them off the street. I would whip them." -- The super-fit Gary Player issues a challenge while commenting on child obesity.

"When you get to 75 and you ask me to remember something in 1988, it's not too easy." -- Gary Player responds to a question regarding his win at The ACE Group Classic in 1988. Player has missed the event once (2006) in its 24-year history.

"Once you slow down they all go past you. I'm never going to retire." -- Dana Quigley, known as the Champions Tour 'Iron Man', tells it like it is.

"If you guys write well enough, they'll know that I'm in good shape going into tomorrow. I don't need to Tweet anyone." -- Fred Couples shares his thoughts with the assembled media after holding the second round lead at the Northern Trust Open.

"Last year, I played here and in the second round with Nick Price. He gave me a lesson after we were done playing. I've told everybody, I'm the president of Nick Price's fan club." -- Rod Spittle shared this insight after finishing second at the 2011 Allianz Championship.