LEADERBOARD
Charley Hoffman Sergio Garcia Thomas Pieters Rickie Fowler William McGirt Ryan Moore Jon Rahm Fred Couples Justin Rose Adam Scott Jordan Spieth Phil Mickelson Matt Kuchar Rory McIlroy Soren Kjeldsen Charl Schwartzel Hideki Matsuyama Martin Kaymer Jason Dufner Ernie Els Lee Westwood Bill Haas Marc Leishman Jimmy Walker Russell Henley Brendan Steele a-Stewart Hagestad Brian Stuard Kevin Chappell Paul Casey Brooks Koepka Pat Perez Steve Stricker Louis Oosthuizen Byeong-Hun An Bernd Wiesberger Emiliano Grillo Justin Thomas Daniel Summerhays Adam Hadwin Kevin Kisner Andy Sullivan Matthew Fitzpatrick Brandt Snedeker James Hahn Ross Fisher a-Curtis Luck Larry Mize J.B. Holmes Daniel Berger Francesco Molinari Branden Grace Jason Day Danny Willett Yuta Ikeda Chris Wood Shane Lowry Billy Hurley III Jim Furyk Zach Johnson Kevin Na Rod Pampling Webb Simpson Henrik Stenson Alex Noren Bubba Watson Scott Piercy Tommy Fleetwood Russell Knox Rafa Cabrera Bello Hudson Swafford Jose Maria Olazabal Vijay Singh Bernhard Langer Patrick Reed Sean O'Hair Ian Woosnam Angel Cabrera Jhonattan Vegas Trevor Immelman Mike Weir Gary Woodland Mark O'Meara Si Woo Kim Roberto Castro Tyrrell Hatton 65-75-140 71-69-140 72-68-140 73-67-140 69-73-142 74-69-143 73-70-143 73-70-143 71-72-143 75-69-144 75-69-144 71-73-144 72-73-145 72-73-145 72-73-145 74-72-146 76-70-146 78-68-146 71-76-147 72-75-147 70-77-147 75-72-147 73-74-147 76-71-147 71-76-147 74-73-147 74-73-147 77-70-147 71-76-147 72-75-147 74-73-147 74-74-148 75-73-148 77-71-148 76-73-149 77-72-149 79-70-149 73-76-149 74-75-149 75-74-149 74-75-149 71-78-149 71-78-149 75-74-149 75-75-150 76-74-150 78-72-150 74-76-150 78-72-150 77-73-150 78-72-150 76-74-150 74-76-150 73-78-151 74-77-151 74-77-151 72-79-151 75-76-151 78-73-151 77-74-151 76-75-151 74-78-152 75-77-152 77-75-152 74-78-152 74-78-152 73-79-152 78-74-152 76-76-152 75-77-152 77-76-153 77-76-153 78-75-153 75-78-153 76-77-153 76-77-153 76-78-154 79-75-154 78-76-154 79-76-155 76-79-155 75-80-155 78-78-156 75-81-156 79-78-157 80-78-158 -4 -4 -4 -4 -2 -1 -1 -1 -1 E E E +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +9 +9 +9 +9 +9 +9 +10 +10 +10 +11 +11 +11 +12 +12 +13 +14
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Fred Couples isn’t concerned about 57.
Not when he’s shooting 70 on another challenging day at Augusta National.
Showing he can still keep up with the kids, Couples put himself in contention Friday at the site of his only major championship a quarter-century ago. Not that it should be surprising to anyone. The 57-year-old has been a perennial challenger at the Masters since becoming eligible for the PGA Tour Champions. Couples led after the opening round in 2010. He was on top at the midway point in 2012. He was second heading to the weekend in 2013.
Now, after sitting out a year ago because of a chronic back issue, he’s back in that familiar spot again — just three shots off the lead after posting a 2-under-par score, even as another dose of swirling winds made life miserable for a bunch of younger players.
“I really know the course very well,” Couples said. “I feel like my age is still OK, because I can drive it far enough. I’m not long like I used to be on this kind of course, but it still plays where I can reach a lot of these greens with shorter clubs to make the ball stop around the hole.”
Couples made six birdies, the last of them at No. 18 to close his round with a flourish.
After a 272-yard drive gave him a peek at the green around the towering Georgia pines, he stuck his approach 2 feet from the flag for a tapin. It left him at 1-under 143 through 36 holes, within striking distance of a lead pack comprised of Sergio Garcia, Rickie Fowler, Charley Hoffman and Thomas Pieters.
That final hole was especially important because it came after back-to-back bogeys.
“I had what I thought was really good yardage, and the only problem was that I made two really bad bogeys in a row,” Couples said. “I was kind of thinking, ‘Where do I want to hit this?’ It hit in the flat part of the green and went up the hill and was circling back toward the hole, and the crowd was kind of going crazy. Very nice to finish with a birdie.”
The challenge for Couples is to keep it going through the weekend. Over his last eight Saturday and Sunday rounds at Augusta, he’s broken par only one time. That’s not surprising, no one in their 50s has won a major golf championship.
But it’s clear Couples still knows his way around this place, where experience is such a huge factor.
“I’m a competitor, so I like to believe in myself,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of good finishes here, and my goal is to keep fighting with these guys.” Can he win? He’s not ready to go there. Not yet. “I’m not going to be thinking about winning the tournament until Sunday or the back nine on Sunday,” he said. “I’ve got a long way to go before I worry about that.” —AP