Balky putting costs Couples shot at cuts record
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Fred Couples was 10 feet away from Masters Tournament history Friday, and he knew it.
It wasn't to be. The tricky downhiller for birdie on No. 18 slid agonizingly by, sending the 1992 champion home for the weekend still tied with Gary Player for the most consecutive cuts made at the tournament.
"Yeah, I figured I needed to make it," Couples said. "It was a bad day."
Couples came up one shot short from setting the new mark at 24. His 4-over-par 148 will force him to make plans for something else other than teeing it up on a Saturday at the Masters for the first time since 1983.
Known for his cool, Couples said missing the cut didn't bother him as much as shooting even par on a day set up for low scoring.
"To be quite honest with you, I don't consider it that great of a deal," he said, somewhat unconvincingly, about missing the cut. "Playing well in this tournament is my goal. I don't know anyone who goes to a tournament where they're hoping to make the cut."
It was a record that hadn't gone unnoticed. The man he was tied with was well aware that he could be relegated to a footnote in tournament history.
"Of course all records are made to be broken," Player said Thursday after setting the Masters longevity record in tournaments played, 51, breaking a tie with Arnold Palmer. "Fred Couples, if he makes the cut this week, I'll be the first to go and shake his hand and tell him, 'Well done.' "
The three-time Masters champ won't have to make that handshake now, thanks largely to the 4-over 76 that Couples shot in Thursday's opening round. He fared better Friday, but a balky putter kept him from going low on a relatively calm day that had the course primed for the taking.
His play on No. 18 was a microcosm of his day: a perfect drive down the middle, a good shot onto the green and a missed putt.
He said he will look back at the 2008 tournament with a sense of what could have been.
"It didn't really come down to the 18th hole. There were a lot of other holes," Couples said. "I never got myself into the tournament. I thought if I could birdie a few holes it would be close.
"But it turned out I needed one more."
Reach Mike Wynn at (706) 823-3218 or mike.wynn@augustachronicle.com.
MASTERS RECORD - FRED COUPLES
| Year | Place | Score | Round | Money | |||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| 2007 | 30 | +13 | 76 | 76 | 78 | 71 | $ 43,085 |
| 2006 | 3 | -4 | 71 | 70 | 72 | 71 | $ 315,700 |
| 2005 | 39 | +7 | 75 | 71 | 77 | 72 | $ 32,200 |
| 2004 | 6 | -2 | 73 | 69 | 74 | 70 | $ 189,893 |
| 2003 | 28 | +6 | 73 | 75 | 69 | 77 | $ 43,500 |
| 2002 | 36 | +6 | 73 | 73 | 76 | 72 | $ 26,950 |
| 2001 | 26 | -2 | 74 | 71 | 73 | 68 | $ 44,800 |
| 2000 | 11 | E | 76 | 72 | 70 | 70 | $ 105,800 |
| 1999 | 27 | +4 | 74 | 71 | 76 | 71 | $ 29,000 |
| 1998 | 2 | -8 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 70 | $ 291,600 |
| 1997 | 7 | -2 | 72 | 69 | 73 | 72 | $ 78,570 |
| 1996 | 15 | E | 78 | 68 | 71 | 71 | $ 43,750 |
| 1995 | 10 | -6 | 71 | 69 | 67 | 75 | $ 57,200 |
| 1993 | 20 | E | 72 | 70 | 74 | 72 | $ 17,000 |
| 1992 | 1 | -13 | 69 | 67 | 69 | 70 | $ 270,000 |
| 1991 | 33 | -1 | 67 | 73 | 72 | 75 | $ 6,371 |
| 1990 | 5 | -4 | 74 | 69 | 72 | 69 | $ 50,000 |
| 1989 | 11 | +1 | 72 | 76 | 74 | 67 | $ 25,567 |
| 1988 | 5 | -3 | 75 | 68 | 71 | 71 | $ 36,500 |
| 1986 | 31 | +3 | 72 | 77 | 70 | 72 | $ 4,875 |
| 1985 | 10 | -1 | 75 | 73 | 69 | 70 | $ 16,800 |
| 1984 | 10 | -5 | 71 | 73 | 67 | 72 | $ 16,200 |
| 1983 | 32 | +7 | 73 | 68 | 81 | 73 | $ 2,900 |
