CALLING THE SHOTS:

There have been plenty of highlights at the Toshiba Classic, which is in its 15th year this week at Newport Beach Country Club. But there is one definite sore spot, and that came in 2000. For someone like Ron Benedict, it was the equivalent of rock bottom.

Benedict is the golf course superintendent of Newport Beach Country Club. He has worked each Toshiba Classic at NBCC, perfecting each blade of grass throughout the golf course. The year 2000 was a nightmare for him because the three-round tournament was shortened to two rounds because of rain.

It only happened once during his time with the Toshiba Classic, but it might happen again.

According to weather.com, which is produced by The Weather Channel, showers are expected Saturday and Sunday. There is a 50% chance of showers on Saturday and a 40% chance for Sunday, the final day of the Toshiba Classic.

In 2000, Benedict had to tell the Toshiba Classic people to shorten the tournament because it would have taken at least a day to pump out all the water on the course. If the rain comes again, Benedict might have to relive his nightmare.

Perhaps Benedict and a plenty of other people associated with the Toshiba Classic could be doing some sort of rain dance in the days leading up to the weekend.

But before the rain might arrive, there will be several events to watch for at or near Newport Beach Country Club.

Today, Hall of Famer Lee Trevino will be featured at the, “Breakfast with a Champion,” presented by the Allergan Foundation. The breakfast, which is $120 per person, begins at 7 a.m. at the Newport Beach Marriott and Spa.

Trevino, 69, is a 1981 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee who has won 29 times each on the PGA and Champions tours. His PGA Tour majors titles are the U.S. Open (1968 and 1971), the British Open (1971 and 1972) and the PGA Championship (1974 and 1984).

He didn’t do much last year, finishing 76th, so he’ll be looking to improve in this year’s $1.7 million Toshiba Classic. The winner earns $255,000.

Last year Trevino won just $986, the lowest payout of the six events he played in 2008. He probably makes more money from the residuals for his cameo in the movie, “Happy Gilmore.”

All kidding aside, there should be plenty of jokes at this year’s breakfast, as Trevino has a good sense of humor. After all, he is a close friend of George Lopez.

 Be sure to check out our tournament website at www.dailypilot.com/toshiba_classic. The site becomes all the more important on Sunday because the Daily Pilot no longer publishes on Mondays. I will be blogging from the tournament throughout the weekend.

 In 2000, who won the rain-shortened Toshiba Classic?

That would be Allen Doyle. He shot a two-round total of 136 to win the first-place check of $195,000. Doyle birdied five of the last eight holes during the second/final round to win by one stroke over Jim Thorpe and Howard Twitty.

 Defending Toshiba Classic champion Bernhard Langer will try to become the first repeat winner in the tournament’s history. He enters as a heavy favorite, that’s for sure.

He is the reigning Champions Tour Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Arnold Palmer Award (money list champion) winner and Byron Nelson Award (low scoring average) winner.

Langer, a two-time Masters champion (1985 and 1993) and a Hall of Famer, enters the Toshiba atop the Charles Schwab Cup standings, used to determine the Player of the Year for the Champions Tour. Langer has played in three events, winning one and finishing third in the other two.

If Langer wins his second straight Toshiba Classic, he’ll join Hale Irwin (1998 and 2002) as the tournament’s only two-time champions.

 While Langer enters as the man to beat, I just can’t pick him. He definitely has the stuff to be the tournament’s first repeat winner, but as history has shown it is difficult to go back-to-back. Jay Haas, the 2007 champ, lost in a seven-hole playoff to Langer last year.

The past two years, I’ve picked Mark O’Meara to win the Toshiba Classic. I must have jinxed him. Last year he finished tied for 39th and in 2007 he left Newport Beach having tied for fifth.

This year, I’ll go with Andy Bean. Sorry Andy.

 There were four who qualified for this weekend’s Toshiba Classic after Monday’s qualifying round at the par-71 Goose Creek Golf Club.

The top four: 1. Ronnie Black (64); 2 (tied) Ron Streck, Massy Kuramoto and Javier Sanchez (65).