Life without Fred
Couples looks at every cup like it might be his last
Posted: Monday December 07, 1998 03:39 PM
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Couples pumps his fist in celebration after hitting a putt on 17th hole that beat Vijay Singh and clinched victory in the 1997 Presidents Cup AP |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- One of these days, the United States is going to play either Europe or an International team with some cup on the line, and Fred Couples will be home watching it unfold on television.
Hard to imagine a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup without him?
Not to Couples.
Never mind he has been on every U.S. match-play team for eight straight years, the longest current streak of any American. Forget for a moment he is unbeaten in Sunday singles since a crushing loss in his first Ryder Cup. Or that he built a reputation as the most dependable -- if not exciting -- American in match play.
When Couples tees it up on the first day of the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, he'll start looking at these cup matches a little differently.
"I'm definitely looking forward to it from the standpoint it might be my last Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup," Couples said. "It's not going to be my last hurrah, but if I don't make the Ryder Cup team next year, then I imagine my days could be slowing down."
He already has accepted the fact that his back won't get any better. And each year that goes by is another reminder that he isn't getting any younger.
Since he first had back spasms before the final round of the 1994 Doral Open, Couples has not played more than 18 PGA Tour events a year, part of a maintenance plan to reduce the wear on his back.
The reduced schedule means fewer opportunities for the former Masters champion to earn money or points toward making the team. He was a captain's pick for these matches, the fourth straight time he has failed to make a team on his own.
And this seems to bother a guy who looks like he doesn't have a care in the world.
"I've been on a lot of teams," Couples said. "In a way, I wish I would have made them all. That way, they could have picked someone else to play."
The only reason he didn't make this team outright is because Hal Sutton won the Tour Championship and its $720,000 prize, enough to catapult him to No. 8 on the standings and bump Couples out of the top 10.
Jack Nicklaus took the next two -- Couples and No. 12 John Huston -- as his two wild-card selections. Of course, taking Couples these days is virtually a lock.
"You want Fred on your team," said Davis Love III, his longtime partner in match play.
Couples not only brings a 6-1-0 record into these matches, he essentially owns the highlight show.
In the inaugural year, a 20-12 victory for the Americans, Couples clinched the cup on the 18th hole of his match with Nick Price by hitting a 9-iron from the bunker into about 2 feet for birdie and a 1-up victory.
Two years ago, he sank a 35-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to beat Vijah Singh in the final match of the cup.
"He's an exciting player to watch because of his length and what he can do with the golf ball," Justin Leonard said. "He's got a real sense of the moment. He's hit a lot of great shots in difficult moments."
Since losing to Christy O'Connor Jr. in singles at the 1989 Ryder Cup, a shocking loss that allowed Europe to retain the cup, Couples has never lost a match on Sunday -- 2-0-2 in the Ryder Cup, and victories over Price and Singh in the Presidents Cup.
In effect, Couples has become to the United States what Nick Faldo is to Europe -- the heart of the team, the one player a captain would rather not do without.
Faldo has played on a record 11 consecutive Ryder Cup teams for Europe. Couples doesn't come close to that, or even the U.S. record of eight teams shared by Tom Kite, Lanny Wadkins and Billy Casper.
Had Kite and Wadkins been in their prime when the Presidents Cup began, they clearly would have had more than eight national teams to their credit. Still, Couples has emerged in an era of such depth that winning the U.S. Open doesn't guarantee a spot on the team (Lee Janzen, Steve Jones).
The question now is how much longer Couples will stay with it.
"You can't do it forever," Couples said. "It's not like I'm old, but it's gotten to the point where I just don't practice as much."
He still manages to get by just fine. Couples won twice this year, and let two other tournaments -- including the Masters -- get away from him. When it gets to the point that he's not playing enough events to even make a team, he says he may ask a captain to consider someone else. Right now, that's not the case.
"I think I can strengthen any team," Couples said.
It's hard to imagine it any other way.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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