Masters

Ebullient Couples Shares His Love of Augusta

By Jim McCabe / 

Monday, April 03, 2023

There may be a performer who loves the theater as much as the theater loves him back more passionately than Fred Couples at Augusta National during the Masters, but you’ll excuse us if we think otherwise.

You want duende delivered in bucketloads? Study Couples when he’s amid the Georgia Pines and strolling around Amen Corner in front of tens of thousands of patrons. Even the azaleas claim it is a beautiful sight.

Then multiply that many times over when he invites friends named Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to join the Practice Round. Roars were thunderous and persistent, which had to be a thrill for the young man to whom Couples had directed this practice round.

“I love Tom Kim. We set this up at the Presidents Cup (last September),” said Couples, “and I think he was a little excited to play with Rory and Tiger. He had a blast, and they loved him.”

Photo Gallery4

Masters champion Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Tom Kim walk off the No. 10 tee during Monday's Practice Round at the 2023 Masters.

Thomas Lovelock/Augusta National

Masters champions Tiger Woods and Fred Couples on the Tournament Practice Area on Monday at the 2023 Masters.

Logan Whitton/Augusta National

Masters champions Tiger Woods and Fred walk off the No. 13 tee with Tom Kim and Rory McIlroy during Monday's Practice Round at the 2023 Masters.

Simon Bruty/Augusta National

Masters champion Fred Couples smiles during Monday's Practice Round at the 2023 Masters.

Matthew Aylward/Augusta National

Storylines abound with each of these star attractions, of course, and whether he mixes in some fatherly observations or extends youthful exuberance, Couples is qualified to comment.

Woods at 47 is playing in his 25th Masters and beyond a chance to tie the Tournament record for a 23rd consecutive cut (currently shared by Couples and Gary Player), there is his bid to win for a sixth time (to match Jack Nicklaus’ mark).

“He hit it really, really well," Couples said. "But last year we played (a practice round), he never missed a shot (and went on to finish 47th). He’s just out there trying to walk around and play. I think he’ll be fine.”

McIlroy, at 33, has yet to win a Masters in 14 previous attempts, but Couples insists there is no magic formula. “Am I surprised he’s never won this? Of course. The way he plays and the way he putts and how high he hits it and how far he hits it. He just (needs) to do his own deal and play like Rory can and he’ll be just fine.”

And Kim, the 20-year-old South Korean who already owns two PGA Tour wins? Couples became a believer at the Presidents Cup and calls him “a really, really sharp good player.”

I love Tom Kim. We set this up at the Presidents Cup and I think he was a little excited to play with Tiger and Rory. He had a blast, and they loved him.

Fred Couples

Ah, but when one remembers that Couples has made 13 more appearances here than Woods, that he had played in six Masters before McIlroy was born, and that his unforgettable 1992 win came 10 years before Kim entered this world ... you stand in awe of the uncanny aura that surrounds his every step around Augusta National.

Couples was a Masters rookie in 1983 when Seve Ballesteros won his second Green Jacket. He finished in a tie for 31st in 1986 when Nicklaus captured arguably the most improbable of his 18 major championships. In Woods’ historic 1997 triumph, Couples was joint seventh. At the age of 49, Couples opened with 66 to lead the 2010 Masters.

Were he 30 years old “I’d probably be excited about it,” laughed Couples, when asked about the longer par-5 13th. But no worries, no complaints said the man who oozes a reverence for the Masters. “At 63, I think it’s an incredible hole. It ain’t about me; I think it’s spectacular.”

Thirty-seven times he’s teed it up, and on 30 occasions he’s played 72 holes. Eleven times he’s finished top 10, five times he’s been top five.

He is as weaved into the fabric of this Tournament as richly as Sarazen and Nelson, Hogan and Snead, and so many of the younger powers who continue to look up at him. That is why walks like the one he took Monday morning are meaningful and heartfelt, because they afford him a reminder of what is so special about the Masters.

Like the face he spotted behind the tee at No. 12.

“We saw Rose Zhang and we talked to her,” said Couples, referring to the Stanford standout who stole the show in winning the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on Saturday. “She got a big hug and high-five from everybody.”

Masters champions Fred Couples and Tiger Woods greet Ashley Kim, who won the Girls 7-9 division of the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals during Monday's Practice Round at the 2023 Masters.

Charles Laberge/Augusta National

And up by the 18th green, Couples was told that the young girl who was watching intently was Ashley Kim of Cerritos, Calif., winner of the Girls 7-9 division in Sunday’s Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals. “She went to the same grade school or goes to the same grade school right now that Tiger went to,” Couples said. “So we made her day.”

Truth be told, Couples has been helping to make the day for an endless line of Masters patrons since 1983, which is a tribute to his love of the place or the place’s love of him.

It’s difficult to distinguish sometimes, but one thing is for sure. Couples cherishes every minute of it, and should it afford him the chance to keep tabs on the youngsters trying to follow his footsteps, all the better.

So long as they know, they’re large footsteps to fill.