The bleachers down by the 17th green was only half-full, if that, when Fred Couples’ distinctive luminous yellow Bridgestone ball ran over the back of the green. His pitch up the slope ran and ran until it disappeared back down the front. Another pitch. Then, two putts. A double-bogey six and, in that instance, his grand old challenge truly disappeared.
That was on Thursday evening, and the ugly six came after an even uglier sequence of events which started with a quadruple-bogey nine, with two water balls, on the 15th followed by a double-bogey five on the 16th, more water, and the double-bogey six on 17.
Up to his arrival on the 15th tee box, Couples had played like a rejuvenated version of his old self. At 66 years of age, he’d rolled back the years to be two-under on his scorecard and his name was among those of Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry et al on the giant white leader boards around the course. That is, until it wasn’t: that run of 9-5-6 arrived like a toddler’s crayon smudging and scrawling over a master painter’s work of art.
I sat in the stand and watched Couples move from the back to the front of the green and all of the spirit had disappeared. His steps were slow, a trudge. The glow of a birdie-birdie start was ultimately doused by visits to the water on 15 and 16 with the fight sucked out of him by the 17th.
RM Block
He knew it too. “All the gas was gone, it was kind of a sour game,” he conceded.
“I’ve played I don’t know how many rounds, I’ve never done that, hit it in the water going for the green. Never hit a 90-yard shot in the water and then followed up with another one. I’ve played 41 years here. I’ve never done that,” explained Couples of that quad on 15. “It sucks.”
Couples won the Masters in 1992 by two strokes from Raymond Floyd. It seemed he was destined for multiple green jackets and other Major titles. I was there for the win, the second Masters I’d covered, and there was a magical appeal to Couples, who moved with grace and hit shots with a smooth elegance that appeared unhurried. He was like a movie star gracing the fairways.
Even rivals fell under his spell.
“Fred has got a game that can win this tournament as many times as a Nicklaus or a Palmer. He’s perfect for this golf course,” said Floyd of his conqueror. At the time, nobody disagreed. The wonder was that the 1992 victory would prove to be Couples’ only Major title in an illustrious career.
So, in a way, there was a sense of words repeating themselves when Couples spoke to the media down by the quick quotes area near the clubhouse after signing for first-round 78 on Thursday. “And by the way,” said Couples. “Rory may never lose this thing again after last year.”
The prophecy may well come true.
It didn’t for Couples, though. Floyd’s words may have had many nodding in agreement, but Couples only won that one Masters.
And, here, in his latest venture around his favourite golf course he put together a second-round 75 to add to his opening 78 for a total of nine-over-par 153 to miss the cut, just the 10th time in 41 appearances that he has missed the weekend.
Couples may have only won one green jacket, but his record in other areas is second only to Jack Nicklaus. The Golden Bear made 37 cuts, Couples second with 31. Tiger Woods, made a record 24 consecutive cuts, one more than Couples and Gary Player.
After Thursday’s nightmare homeward run , Couples opened his second round with plenty of his old fight. He birdied the Par 5 second and turned in one-under, at five-over with a chance to make a 32nd cut, but a double-bogey five on the 12th – ironically the scene of his miraculous lucky break of 1992, when the ball caught in the bank but refused to roll into the creek – moved him beyond the pale and two bogeys on the 15th and 18th meant there would be no weekend play.
Yet, the expectation is that Couples will be back again next year for a 42nd Masters at the age of 67. While chasing down Nicklaus’s record 37 cuts made is likely beyond him, the past two days have shown that there remains a know-how to getting the ball around the course.
“You would have to be an idiot not to love Augusta National,” said Couples. “As a kid you grow up watching it. Sam Snead and what he did, Hubert Green, and then Jack Nicklaus winning, and Tom Weiskopf. Those were all the greats.
“You come here and you finally see it. I consider it to be just the greatest walk you could ever have.”
