Fred Couples
Fred Couples
Frederick Steven Couplesis an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won 57 professional tournaments, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship and followed this up in July 2012 when he won the Senior British Open Championship. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013. Because of his long drives,...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGolfer
Date of Birth3 October 1959
CitySeattle, WA
CountryUnited States of America
It was the only putt I made all week and I knew it was going in four feet from the hole. It was thrilling, it was energetic and if I can use a fuzzy word, it was karma.
Fourteen made the difference for me. But really, the way Phil played, it wouldn't have made any difference.
There were four great players starting out, ... Three of them played well, and I was mediocre. Some of the shortcomings with me came out in alternate shot, especially when you're playing with the best player in the world and trying your darnedest to do well.
I thought the ball was going in the hole; someone said that was an early call. My thought was, 'Well, I think it's the only putt I made all week so I knew it was going in when it was four feet from the hole.' It looked good. It would have been embarrassing if it had lipped out.
When he comes to these tournaments, it really does wear him down. You walk around and have your name yelled at for four to five hours a day, every day, it wears you down. Literally, screaming your name all day, you just get worn out.
Other than those few holes, I had a lot of birdie chances. To be five under, blow four strokes, then get five strokes back is a pretty good way to end the day.
If Tiger Woods hits four really good drives, or Vijay (Singh) or Davis (Love III) or Ernie Els, I don't know a course they don't have an advantage on. So you have to keep it in play.
I should have just walked in. There is no way I felt like I was going to be able (to play). But I got it around and ended up making some putts and hitting a few good shots (for a 66). It was the biggest fluke of the year.
It would have been nice to have made that. It would have made up for a lot of things.
The way it looks, a winning score of two or three-under is not out of the question.
First off, I didn't want Vijay, ... I chose to play with him because I enjoy him and the way he hits the ball. It was a great match all the way. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great moment. Is he going to beat me eight of 10 times? I think so, but in a one-day try, I've got as good a shot.
Right now, today, I would say it would be Phil.
Really in all my years on Tour, in the U.S. Open I probably played great golf in two of them, out of maybe 20, so it's a lot of work.
Everyone thinks they can play with everybody and they all get along great, but when you're on the course, you have to know the guy pretty well because you're not going to win every single time you play, and you have to be able to say the right things and have some fun with it.