EAST MEADOW, N.Y. -- The 21st playing of the Commerce Bank Championship is this week at Eisenhower Park's Red Course. In 2007, Lonnie Nielsen picked up his first Champions Tour win when he took a three-stroke lead into the final round and defeated Loren Roberts by two strokes.

It was Nielsen's first PGA TOUR-sanctioned victory. Nielsen is no stranger to winning, though. Following a TOUR career that lasted from 1978 to 1983, Nielsen won 32 tournaments, mainly PGA section titles in New York.

Nielsen has had five top-10s this season and is 17th in the Charles Schwab Cup. Last year he finished 20th in the season-long points chase.

Lonnie Nielsen will try to become the fifth player (sixth time) to successfully defend a Commerce Bank Championship title. George Archer did it twice when he won three straight times on Long Island from 1990 to 1992. Lee Trevino won back-to-back titles at The Meadow Brook Club in 1994 and 1995. Bruce Fleisher won in consecutive years in 1999 and 2000, while Jim Thorpe won two in a row at Eisenhower Park in 2003 and 2004.

In addition to Lonnie Nielsen defending his title this week, four other past champions are committed to play in this event. They are Dana Quigley (1997), Bobby Wadkins (2001), Ron Streck (2005) and John Harris (2006).

There have been six first-time winners in Commerce Bank Championship history, one short of the mark established by the AT&T Champions Classic in 2005 for most in Champions Tour history. The six first-time winners on Long Island are Don Bies (1988), Dana Quigley (1997), Bobby Wadkins (2001), Ron Streck (2005), John Harris (2006) and Lonnie Nielsen (2007).

This week's stop on the PGA Tour, the Buick Open, is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and four former winners of that event are in this week's Commerce Bank Championship field. Wayne Levi claimed the sixth of his 12 PGA Tour victories at Warwick Hills in 1983, edging Isao Aoki and Calvin Peete by a stroke. A year later, Denis Watson won his first PGA Tour event, in Grand Blanc, Mich.

Ben Crenshaw won the 1986 Buick Open, his 11th of 19 career victories on the PGA Tour. Crenshaw bested J.C. Snead and Doug Tewell by a stroke at Warwick Hills. Leonard Thompson claimed the 1989 Buick Open, the last of his three PGA Tour victories. Thompson rallied with a 4-under 68 in the final round. His win ended an 11-year, 9-month drought, the third-longest stretch between wins in PGA Tour history.

There have been 11 holes-in-one in tournament history, including an amazing seven in the last five years on the Red Course at Eisenhower Park. Sam Torrance made the last ace in this event, holing his tee shot on No. 5 in the opening round of last year's tournament. It was Torrance's first career ace on the Champions Tour.

Jim Albus, the former head professional at the Piping Rock Club on Long Island and a longtime Metropolitan PGA Section standout turned Champions Tour player, will make his 19th appearance in the Commerce Bank Championship this year. Albus has played in this event more times than any other professional and he finished second in 1992 at The Meadow Brook Club, two strokes back of George Archer. This year's Commerce Bank Championship will be Albus' 497th Champions Tour event.

Look out for Jeff Sluman. With his victory at the Bank of America Championship, Sluman jumped from 10th to fifth in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, the first time he's been inside the top five since he joined the Champions Tour. Jay Haas continues to lead the overall race by 258 points over Bernhard Langer. Scott Hoch is third, followed by 2007 Schwab Cup winner Loren Roberts.

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