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.
The 14th hole was really a killer, but there were several other putts -- I just couldn't get one to go. I think if Phil was putting for me, I would have won with 9- or 10-under.
I thought if I could play with him and handle him, several guys would be excited about that. And then the putt on the 18th was thrilling. Career-wise, it doesn't mean anything. Team-wise, it was awesome.
When I play well, I putt pretty well. A few of them were pretty easy putts. You can not miss putts and try to win tournaments.
I didn't change my stroke, but I just hit the birdie putt way too hard.
I felt like at least from tee to green, I was close if not maybe a little better today than these guys. But to win this thing, you've got to putt well. I wasn't horrible, but I was just mediocre. I just couldn't get one to go in the hole to get any momentum. That was disappointing. Otherwise, I liked the way I played.
To hole that putt in front of everyone...I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, ... This is certainly exciting for me.
This is the kind of putt an old guy can make.
This course is set up for my game. I feel very good on this course. I'm a very good lag putter and you have to do that here. My eye catches the slopes pretty well. That just comes from doing it for (so many) years. ... Around the greens, even though I'm not an incredibly good putter, I feel pretty safe.
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.
My putting was horrible but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. I might have finished second to Phil, that's all.
I just felt like in my mind that if I was going to beat anyone, it was probably going to be their best player. I had enough of Goose in the first two matches so I selected Vijay. And to be honest, I thought if I could play with him and handle him, several guys would be excited about that. It happened that way and then the putt on the 18th was thrilling.
I'm beating myself up, but it just really came down to one minor, minor casualty and that was on 14. I mean, I can live and die with three-putting and some of the other stuff. But that really is a putt where it would have been a heck of a lot more fun to make and see what would have happened.
If Phil was putting for me, he'd have won at 9 or 10 under.