Stat profiles for 1500 golfers
Fred Couples won for the first time on the Champions Tour, beating Tommy Armour III by a shot after Armour shot a final round 61.
One thing that you can say about Fred Couples, in events with very little pressure and in a fun situation you can always count on Couples coming through. So you have to think that possibly Couples could become a superstar on the Champions Tour. No two ways about it, after his first three events on the over 50 circuit he has shown his potential, finishing T3rd at the unofficial Wendy's Champions, 2nd at the Mitsubishi Electric and capping it off with a win in the ACE Group Classic.
Couples won thanks to rounds of 68-67-64 for a 17 under par total to nip Tommy Armour III in his Champions Tour debut by a shot. For Armour he shot a final round of 61 that had to be a bit of De Ja vu for Couples who three weeks ago played good enough to win only to have Tom Watson play a bit better.
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Could the same be said for Fred Couples? He has won a Masters and 14 other PGA Tour events, will one day be a Hall-of-Famer, but frankly Couples never achieved what many thought that he was capable of doing. He always had the excuse of his back problems, which started to flair around 1992 but in reality Couples had the God given talents that Tiger Woods has but never had the temperament or drive to be the best.
In his PGA Tour career, Couples won $21.3 million but other than his 1992 Masters victory, Couples became more famous for being the king of second season events. It seem that no matter what happened during his official seasons once November rolled around, Couple was rejuvenated. In over 80 second season events, Couples won 26 events including five Skins Game plus multiple wins in Shark Shootouts, Hyundai Team Matches which has added up to just under $11 million dollars of earnings. With that kind of track record you have to think he will do the same on the Champions Tour that has the same feel as the old Silly Season events.
So you have to think that maybe, just maybe, the Champions Tour could be perfect fit for Couples because of his totally low key approach. Also, the courses are tailor made for his long hitting game, if he putts half decently he can't lose. Already in his first two official events comprising six rounds he is 38 under par, an average of 65.6 per round. Couples is liking what he sees on the Champions Tour saying that if his back holds up, he will play more events on the Champions Tour in 2011 than when he first started on the PGA Tour in his early 20s. As he says the difference between the Champions Tour and the PGA Tour, last week in the Northern Trust he played really great and finished T37th but if you get into a streak of good play on the Champions Tour you can win.
As for Tommy Armour III, this year has the potential to be really great for him. He has a lot of parallels with Couples, as both came out on tour in 1982 but while Fred felt right at home on the PGA Tour and never had to worry, the same can't be said for Armour. He has won twice on the PGA Tour, the last coming at the 2003 Valero Texas Open but since being on tour full time in 1988 he has only finished in the top-125, ten of his 23 seasons. He has been to Q-school a dozen times and had a stint on the Nationwide Tour in 1994. Couples and Armour hung out together in college, even though Armour went to New Mexico and Couples went to Houston. Couples is only five days older than Armour, so it will be interesting to see how many more times the two will confront each other in future Champions Tour events.
For Armour, his final round 61 broke the tournament record and he becomes the first player on the Champions Tour to shoot a final round 61 and not win since Tom Jenkins did it at the 2006 Boeing Seattle Classic. Still Armour did well finishing 2nd in greens hit and 3rd in putts per round and per greens hit. He tied with Couples for most birdies made during the week with 18 and one eagle each, just happened that Armour made one more bogey than Couples did.
Fred Couples stats for the day & week Photo credit: Stan Badz/PGA Tour | ||
| Category | Sunday | Week (rank) |
|---|---|---|
| Fairways hit: | 13 of 14 | 31 of 42 (T19th) |
| Driving average: | N/A | 286.0 (1st) |
| Greens hit: | 17 of 18 | 49 of 54 (1st) |
| Putts: | 27 | 86 (T6th) |
| 0-putt greens: | 0 | 1 |
| 1-putt greens: | 9 | 21 |
| 2-putt greens: | 9 | 31 |
| 3-putt greens: | 0 | 1 |
| Play on par 3s: | -1 | -4 |
| Play on par 4s: | Even | -3 |
| Play on par 5s: | -3 | -10 |
| Eagles: | 0 | 1 |
| Birdies: | 8 | 18 (T1st) |
| Scrambling: | 3 of 5 (60.00%) | (24th) |
Keys to Victory for Couples
- Keys for Couples was doing everything right. There wasn't a single part of his game that wasn't working this week. In looking at the big key for the week, Couples only missed five greens for the whole week.
- Couples only took 86 putts, an average of 28.67 a round which ranked T6th. But in putts per greens hit he was 2nd
- Couples average drive was 286 yards, the longest driver of the week.
- Couples made 18 birdies, which ranked tied for first with Armour
- Couples played the par 5s in 10 under, most of anyone in the field.
- Couples keeps a ACE Group streak alive, as he becomes the 10th consecutive player to be in the final group and win, the last winner not to play in the final group was Lanny Wadkins in 2000.
Other notes from the week
Scott Hoch finished 3rd, eight shots back. It was his first top-ten since finishing 3rd last July in the 3M Championship. After that event Hoch was bothered again with his recurring hand injury and had surgery on it last October so for the player who won this event in 2008 it was his first start since the surgery.Tommy Armour III wasn't the only player in his Champions Tour debut, Paul Azinger made his first start and with rounds of 71-74-70 finished T21st, 16 shots back of Couples
Sunday was the 28th anniversary of Wayne Levi's historic win at the Hawaiian Open. In winning, he became first PGA Tour player to win a tournament while using a colored golf ball. After opening with an even-par 72, Levi followed with three straight sub-par rounds to nip Scott Simpson by one stroke at Waialae CC. A Wilson staff member, Levi used an Optic Orange ball in his victory. For Levi, it's been now nine months since his had double-bypass heart operation.
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