At 49, Fred Couples is one of the favorites to win at Augusta National for a second time.
Apr. 6, 2009
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TURNING BACK THE CLOCK: Jack Nicklaus was 46 when he earned that improbable Masters victory in 1986 and Julius Boros was 48 when he captured the 1968 PGA. Dare we dream again this week? Why not? So many people are looking at 54-year-old Greg Norman and hoping he can buck the odds at Augusta National, the scene of so many heartbreaking losses for the Aussie.
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Maybe we are focused on the wrong Presidents Cup captain, though. As wonderful as it would be to see Norman exorcise the demons -- and I really mean that -- Fred Couples enters the Masters with momentum after two ties for third in his last three starts. He won the Masters in 1992 and has nine other top-10s, including a tie for third in 2006.
Couples will be 50 on Oct. 3. He'll captain the U.S. Team at Harding Park and then plans to fly to Houston to make his Champions Tour debut in the Administaff Small Business Classic. But judging by his performance of late, he's not going quietly into that good night. -- Helen Ross
IS THIS 1992?: Fred Couples was tired to the bone, and his 49-year-old body was facing three of the hardest holes on the PGA TOUR. Perhaps that is why it wasn't surprising that he bogeyed the final three holes to lose the Shell Houston Open.
Everyone else bogeyed the holes too. John Mallinger bogeyed two of the final three holes to fall into a tie for sixth. So did Hunter Mahan. Both are half Couples' age. Couples simply didn't have a lead large enough to carry him through the hardest closing stretch on the PGA TOUR in '09.
All that will be forgotten if he can get into contention this week at Augusta National. Forget Couples' incredible record there -- it's more important to focus on how he's playing now: Two top-fives in his last three starts. For anyone not named Tiger Woods, that's a lot of momentum heading into the year's first major.
The way Couples is playing, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Couples become the oldest major champion in history on Sunday. -- Ryan Smithson
HINDSIGHT 20/20?: While 15 of the top 20 players in the Official World Rankings appeared at the Shell Houston Open for final Masters preparation, you have to wonder if they're thinking it was a good decision.
That second-guessing has nothing to do with the venue, or the tournament. It simply has to do with Mother Nature, which tournament organizers and the PGA TOUR can't control. Because of extreme winds that reached 45 mph last Thursday, the majority of the Shell Houston Open's first round didn't tee off until Friday morning. This threw a massive wrench into the schedule as most of the field didn't finish their second rounds until early afternoon on Saturday.
The third round didn't wrap up until late Sunday morning and some of the leaders played as many as 28 holes on the final day.
Granted, the guys in the Houston field didn't play any more holes than they expected to. However, they did play those 72 holes in a far shorter period of time than usual. We won't know if this had any effect on their respective games until next week. But, it's probably safe to say that this type of dry-run for the Masters wasn't exactly what they anticipated. -- T.J. Auclair
TOUGH FINISH: If there is a tougher finishing stretch on the PGA TOUR than the last three holes at Redstone, I don't want to play it. Sunday, the final three holes only saw two players who started on the front nine play those last three even par. Justin Leonard made three straight pars to end his round and so did J.B. Holmes.
The par-3 16th opens the stretch and is followed by two par-4s that each stretch over 480 yards. The final hole may be the toughest finishing hole in the game. At 488 yards and with water all down the left side it is a terribly demanding driving hole. Even getting the ball in the fairway is no guarantee for par. Water, wind and sand are all factors on the second shot as well. John Merrick made the day's only birdie on Sunday while there were 28 scores of double bogey or worse.
The stroke average for the best players in the game was more than a shot over par.
Move over Blue Monster, 18 at TPC Sawgrass and the Bear Trap, there is a new king of devastation on TOUR. The 18th at Redstone is the hardest finishing hole on TOUR. Just ask Paul Casey, winner of the Shell Houston Open, who made two bogeys on 18 in the final round and in the playoff and they were good enough for the victory. -- John Maginnes
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J.B. Holmes: The TOUR's resident bomber needed a little more distance on his tee shot in the playoff against Paul Casey, but the runner-up finish was Holmes' best result in more than a month after two missed cuts and a T40 last week. He might be America's best 20-something right now.
FedExCup rank: 19 (69 last week) |
Hunter Mahan: You have to understand how difficult Redstone was playing Sunday to understand just how good Mahan's final-round 68 was. It was the lowest score of the day and he had six birdies, though none came on 16, 17 or 18. Still, he jumped 38 spots on the leaderboard to finish T6.
FedExCup rank: 40 (53 last week) |
Rory McIlroy: The teenager had mediocre second and third rounds, but his final-round 69 was one of only four in the 60s in the last 18 holes. In four starts on the PGA TOUR, McIlroy has now finished in the top 20 all four times. A lot of eyes will certainly -- and rightfully -- be on him at Augusta.
FedExCup rank: n/a (non-TOUR member) |
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Sergio Garcia: A 9-over 81 Sunday didn't leave a good taste in Garcia's mouth as he heads to Augusta, but perhaps more disconcerting is the fact that only once did he take less than 30 putts all week. He also didn't hit many fairways. That kind of play won't win him a Green Jacket.
FedExCup rank: 130 (121 last week) |
Phil Mickelson: A wildly erratic season continued for Mickelson, who said, "I made some big mistakes" after missing the cut with rounds of 77-76. That's putting it mildly. Lefty was all over the course, finding the water a couple of times in Round 2. No one knows what to expect from him right now.
FedExCup rank: 2 (2 last week) |
Colt Knost: Maybe Knost shouldn't have turned pro and therefore forgone the invites to the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open he got for winning the 2007 U.S. Amateur. He was tied for the lead going into the final round in Houston, only to implode with an 81. Wait 'til next year.
FedExCup rank: 162 (167 last week) |
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| A Quick 18 |
| Front Nine | Back Nine |
| It's hard to be too critical of J.B. Holmes' pulled tee shot on the 73rd hole in Houston. Holmes only started hitting a draw a few weeks ago and it's still a work in progress. He also had to wait around nearly three hours after finishing much earlier. | It was a good weekend for Tiger Woods. First, he took in the Cavs-Magic game with Hank Haney Friday night in Orlando. On Sunday, he played a couple of holes at Augusta National, where it was a light day of practice for him and others. |
| Paul Casey's win meant so much that he nearly broke down in his post-round interview with GOLF CHANNEL. That's what happens when you're as talented as Casey and you capture your first TOUR win after nearly 10 years. | Where isn't Haney these days? He's all over GOLF CHANNEL with his wildly successful show The Haney Project with Charles Barkley -- clearly Hank's toughest challenge to date -- and anywhere Woods is, Haney is. |
| Keep an eye on Fred Couples this week. His back held up, but he crammed in 54 holes over two days in Houston and while he played well, that much golf might take its toll on the 49-year-old's body, even at a course he loves in Augusta National. | Henrik Stenson has the length and short game to compete at the Masters, and he anonymously finished tied for third in Houston. Startling stat for Stenson: He played the nightmarish par-4, 488-yard 18th at Redstone better than anyone -- birdie, birdie, par, par. He could pull an Immelman this week. |
| Couples might not be the only one hurting. As noted by T.J. Auclair in our Foursome above, several used Redstone to prep for the Masters. However, it's doubtful that we'll see any adverse effects from playing so much golf in a short amount of time. | Though Camp Rory McIlroy plans to limit the teen's exposure, don't be surprised if you see him a lot the rest of the season. He's got over $500,000 in earnings -- meaning he needs less than $40,000 more to be eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions. |
| It may not carry over to Masters week, but Sergio Garcia and Greg Norman couldn't have been too happy with the final-round 81s they shot. That's not exactly what you call momentum going into the year's first major. Not the kind you want anyway. | Padraig Harrington recently made the most unbelievable par-3 you'll ever see. Let's just say that it happened at Legends Golf and Safari resort and he had to take a helicopter to the tee box. Check out the links box on the right for more. |
| Casey got away with one on Sunday, choosing to hit 3-wood off the tee on 18 in regulation. As a result, he left himself over 200 yards into the wind. He knew bogey wouldn't cost him the tournament, but if Holmes didn't get wet, it might have. | Speaking of Harrington, he was on the popular ESPN show Pardon the Interruption last week. Harrington's never heard of the show, but handled himself well with the show's sharp and quick hosts, Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon. |
| It was apparently windy everywhere this week. In addition to the 25-45 mph gusts in Houston depending what day it was, the LPGA's Kraft Nabisco also had a wind-blown third round. It was even blowing at the European event in Portugal. | As Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen was declaring the end of the Jay Cutler era, former coach Mike Shanahan made a hole-in-one, according to his former attorney. Ironically, Shanahan got his first hole-in-one not long after getting fired from the Raiders in 1989. |
| Speaking of the LPGA, Brittany Lincicome's shot on the final hole is how you want to win your first major. After trading the lead all day, she hit her approach shot on the par-5 18th to 6 feet to set up an eagle and a one-shot victory. | Forecast for Augusta, Ga., according to weather.com: Winds over 20 mph on Mon-Tues, with overnight lows in the 30s. Yikes. Thankfully, by tournament time it should warm up some with temps in the 70s and only one day threatened by rain. |
| Michelle Wie's week wasn't quite as successful. She shot back-to-back 81s in the second and third round. You have to wonder when the roller coaster ride will end. A former colleague John Strege said it best: "This isn't progress, it's regress." | Every year the folks who run the Masters hold a lottery for members of the media and other various folks on hand to play the course the day after the tournament. Needless to say, the clubs are packed and my fingers are crossed.
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| The Forward Spin |
Three things mark the beginning of Spring: Opening Day, the Final Four and, of course, the Masters.
There are countless storylines as we head to Augusta: Tiger Woods' first major since returning from knee surgery; Phil Mickelson's incredibly up-and-down season; the Paddy Slam; a rejuvenated 54-year-old Greg Norman playing there for the first time since 2002; wide-eyed and fresh-faced Rory McIlroy; Sergio Garcia looking to capture his first major; the emergence of Paul Casey and Geoff Ogilvy as potential world-class stars; the seemingly annual re-emergence of Fred Couples; Fuzzy Zoeller's final lap around the place.
We didn't even mention Trevor Immelman's attempt to become the first repeat winner there since Woods in 2001-02, or how the course will play in what's expected to be some interesting weather.
Whatever happens, it'll be interesting. It always is. Spring is here and so is the year's first major, which will end on Easter Sunday. |
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PGATOUR.COM'S Brian Wacker wrote the Quick 18, Stock up/Stock Down and Forward Spin.
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