Players ache to be in game
Injuries could handicap some golfers this week
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Fred Couples arrived at Augusta National Golf Club in the early evening Tuesday to attend the Champions Dinner, held annually in the clubhouse library.
That's the closest Couples has made it to the course this week, which raises the question: Will the 1992 champion and one of last year's third-place finishers play in the 71st Masters Tournament?
Calf and back injuries this season have limited the 47-year-old to two rounds all season, and they were back on Feb. 1-2 in the FBR Open, where he shot 72-70 and missed the cut. He is one of the few players among the 97 starters in this year's Masters who hasn't played a practice round or even worked on the range at Augusta National.
Couples didn't shed any light on his situation Tuesday night. He was dropped off in front of the clubhouse for the Champions Dinner, which is off-limits to the media.
He is scheduled to tee off at 10:34 a.m. Thursday, with Geoff Ogilvy and Ernie Els.
Davis Love III, one of his longtime friends, said he didn't know Couples' status. He did say he tried to set up a practice round with Couples for today but hadn't heard back from him.
Couples isn't the only player who might not be 100 percent. Others who are nursing, or in the process of overcoming injuries, are 2006 runner-up Tim Clark (neck), Justin Rose (back), Fred Funk (back) and Jim Furyk (wrist).
Clark missed four events starting in late February while resting his neck. He returned two weeks ago, finishing tied for 63rd in the CA Championship and tied for 62nd in last week's Houston Open.
"I've prepared really hard," he said. "It's sort of wait-and-see and you never know. I'm starting to feel better. I haven't played much golf lately. I've been sort of playing warm-up rounds."
Clark, who holed out a greenside bunker shot on the 72nd hole last year for birdie to claim second place in the Masters, said he is "probably 80 percent" physically.
"By the time I tee it up this week, I will probably be feeling pretty good with all the adrenaline of this place," Clark said.
He said his neck injury "is nothing serious. It's just been a little stiff and a little bit sore. It's been hard to pinpoint what it is with my neck." Rose, who is making his first Masters appearance since 2004, injured discs in his back earlier this season and hasn't played in a tour event since Feb. 25. He did play in the unofficial 36-hole Tavistock Cup last week.
Funk, 50, and a winner on the PGA and Champions tours this year, withdrew after the first round of two consecutive PGA Tour events in early March because of his back. He returned to competition in last week's Ginn Championship, a Champions Tour event in which he shot 71-67-70 to finish seventh.
Furyk rested his wrist for two weeks in March, returning for the CA Championship on March 22.
"My wrist is fine this week," he said. "There are no worries about it at all."
Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.
