AUGUSTA, Ga. -- He created cool.
On the golf course, at least.
The slow-easy walk. The shoulder shrugs. The even temper. The facial expressions that run from hmmm to self-deprecating. The way he wears pressure, which is as easy as a fine pima cotton shirt. The way he takes everything -- even his incredible popularity -- in stride.
Freddie Couples gave us another clinic on cool Sunday. But this time there was no Velcro shot. No miracle putt.
In their place were four putts -- all of them left on the course. Putts he needed to beat Phil Mickelson. Putts he just didn’t have in him.
Yet here we are celebrating what wasn’t. How a 46-year-old Couples played 31 holes on Masters Sunday and had more than a chance to win his second Green Jacket. How he almost did what Jack Nicklaus did two decades ago. How he recovered from a disastrous 14th hole -- he three-putted from birdie range -- and, until Mickelson birdied 15, still had a chance to beat him.
How that cool exterior and grace under pressure makes us hope he’s back contending again at 47.
“I’m 46; I don't really feel 46,’’ Couples said. “I didn't hit the ball like I was 46. I putted like I was 66. But again, 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. But not only could I not make it, I couldn't make the one coming back.’’
Minor casualty? That’s why we love him.
He didn’t want to finish tied for third with Tiger Woods, Chad Campbell, Retief Goosen and Jose Maria Olazabal. He wanted to win. And yet when he didn’t, he was so at ease with himself that, well, he was laid back.
But was he really as laid back as he seemed?
“It's not easy if you ride home in the car with me, that's for sure,’’ he said. “But, you know, that's the way I am.’’
Without two hard days of work with Butch Harmon last Sunday in Las Vegas
and Tuesday at Augusta, Couples might have been an afterthought here.
But Harmon got his swing so grooved that he was dialing it in from just
about everywhere, hitting the ball as well as he did when he finished
second to
He opened with rounds of 71-70, then threw in a weather delayed 72 -- he had to play 13 holes Sunday morning -- in the third round to get into the final pairing with Mickelson. And, he birdied the first hole of the fourth round to ease into a tie with Mickelson.
No one hit iron shots better the rest of the day. Couples kept stiffing his approaches, but missing the putts. At the second and the third holes. Then a three-putt at 11. One step closer, two back.
“Those are when you sit back and you're going down the 12th hole and you're saying, man, this is kind of crazy,’’ he said. “I should be here. But you can't really do that.”
He picked up an improbable shot at 13 when he made birdie out of the hazard, to cut Mickelson’s lead to two shots. But he gave it back -- and more -- with the three-putt at 14.
“You've got to make somewhere,’’ he said. “I needed four putts out there to beat him, and I didn't have it in me.’’
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| Fred Couples made three birdies and two bogeys in the final round. (AP) |
He wore himself out this week -- literally. Playing 31 holes is no easy feat for anyone, save a 46-year-old with a cranky back. Yet Couples made it.
Part of the reason was his ball striking, which was crisp and smooth. Part of it too, was the pairing. He’s relaxed and at ease with Mickelson, who he’s known forever.
And weeks like this?
“Basically it shows me that every now and then, I can play well,’’ Couples said. “You know, it doesn't happen that often, and I physically would like to work this hard. It's just grueling for me, and it's not really an excuse.
“It's just my body just tells me, you know, like right now, I'm really done. I could probably have played 10 more holes, but once I stop, you know, my body just kind of shuts down and it really starts to hurt and twist. Everything is just ready to feel like it's going to explode. ‘’
But it didn’t look like it.
Our favorite stream-of-consciousness quote didn’t sit there fidgeting. Or cracking his neck. Or trying his best to bolt for the door.
Instead, he sat there talking about missed chances. About how he never comes here looking to make the cut, but rather to win. About how, when he teed off, he knew he was one of a half-dozen players who could win.
About how if Phil had putted for him, 9 or 10 under might have won. Not 7-under.
About how when he makes a few of putts, he gets in a rhythm and can make a few putts.
“Then when I start missing them,’’ he said, “they don't go in.’’
It’s why we love him. Why we always will.
