Notes: Record purse awaits at Tour's first Asian event

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The Champions Tour visits New Songdo City in Korea for the inaugural Posco E&C Songdo Championship presented by Gale International. The tournament is the 20th of 26 Charles Schwab Cup events. The purse is $3 million with the winner earning $450,000 and 450 Charles Schwab Cup points. This represents the first time in Champions Tour history that an official event will be held in Korea.

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LAST WEEK

· Ted Schulz won the Home Care & Hospice First Tee Open at Pebble Beach for his first Champions Tour title, holing a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach en route to a one-shot victory over Tom Pernice Jr. Schulz earned his first win since the 1991 Nissan Open on the PGA TOUR.

· Ted Schulz's previous best finish on the Champions Tour was a T15 at the previous week's Boeing Classic.

· After 19 events, Bernhard Langer still leads the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race with 2,791 points. Fred Couples finished fifth this week and earned 86 points. He is in second place with 2,216 points. Tom Lehman remains a distant third with 1,420 points.

· Russ Cochran and his junior partner, Spencer Jones of The First Tee of Cleveland County (Shelby, NC) edged Tom Pernice Jr. and his junior partner, Jason Park of The First Tee of Richmond, VA by one stroke in the pro-junior competition.

· Spencer Jones also won the Coca-Cola Champions Challenge when he teamed with John Cook on Thursday of tournament week.

· Kenny Perry was 93rd on the FedExCup standings when he withdrew before the start of the Deutsche Bank Championship citing mental and physical exhaustion. Perry is planning his 2011 schedule which will likely include tournaments on both the PGA TOUR and the Champions Tour.

· Greg Norman had a poor start in his first tournament after shoulder surgery 12 months ago. Norman shot a pair of 75s to miss the cut by nine strokes at the Omega European Masters on the European Tour.

· Ireland's Des Smyth won the Senior Masters at Woburn to win for a fifth successive decade and deny England's Carl Mason a record 24th European Senior Tour victory.

· Just a few days before Hurricane Earl threatened to disrupt the TOUR event in Boston, Typhoon Kompasu had already done some damage to Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, the venue for the Posco E&C Songdo Championship. The typhoon killed five people in the Seoul area while trees were knocked down, 10 inches of rain fell on the course and windows in the clubhouse were blown out.

· Here's a look at the Champions Tour Pick 'Em Challenge leaderboard -- nanny911, kazzy53 and dixieneedler are in a three way tie for first place with 443 points after two of the six events have been completed. Visit www.championstourchallenge.com to play.

COMING UP

· The Posco E&C Songdo Championship presented by Gale International has a Champions Tour record $3 million purse.

· The Posco E&C Songdo Championship features six players who have won this season, including Bernhard Langer, who has posted five victories in 2010. Other 2010 winners scheduled to tee it up are Tom Watson, Mark O'Meara, Fred Funk, David Frost and David Eger.

· The Posco E&C Songdo Championship represents a significant moment in Champions Tour history. The Tour has ventured outside of the United States to several international destinations such as Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, but this is the first official event in the Asian region.

· Mark Calcavecchia has some history in Korea. The Champions Tour rookie won the 2004 Maekyung Open at the Lakeside CC in Seoul, coming from one stroke back entering the final round. His winning score was 6-under par and only six players finished below par for the week. He earned $85,000 for the win.

· New Songdo City is a completely planned city in South Korea and the most expensive private real estate development in world history. The aim is to create the world's most livable and futuristic city to become the leading global business hub in Northeast Asia.

· Posco E&C is a Korean construction giant established in December 1994, recognized world-wide in the steel and ironworks industry. Gale International is the developer of the largest private real estate project in the world today -- the $35 billion Songdo International Business District in South Korea.

· Jack Nicklaus, the designer of the venue (Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea), will not test his skills in the tournament. However, the Golden Bear will make an appearance at the Gala function on Wednesday and participate in Thursday's pro-am.

· Captain Corey Pavin selected Tiger Woods, Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson and Rickie Fowler for the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales.

ON THIS DATE

· Sept. 9, 2005 -- Despite making just one birdie over his final 36 holes, Mark Calcavecchia became the oldest winner (45 years, 2 months, 29 days) in the 101-year history of the Bell Canadian Open when he held off Ben Crane and Ryan Moore by one stroke at Shaughnessey Golf and CC in Vancouver. It was his second win in the city, having won the Greater Vancouver Open in 1997.

QUOTES TO NOTE

· "I was trying to figure out how we're going to get that tree cut down where my drive will probably go" -- Loren Roberts, referring to the 18th hole at Harding Park GC in San Francisco, during media day for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship last week.

· "It was amazing. I just pretty much watched it all and cheered for him. I wish I would have brought my pom-poms" -- Spencer Jones, on Russ Cochranshooting 29 on the front nine at Pebble Beach. The pair won the pro-junior competition of the Home Care & Hospice First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.